RIKEN Pioneering Project Mathematical Foundation of Quantum Information

This project is a RIKEN Pioneering Project that integrates three theoretical pillars — operator algebras, quantum resource theory, and fault-tolerant quantum computing — to build a unified mathematical framework for quantum information under realistic, noisy conditions. By developing a common language across mathematics, physics, and information theory, the project aims to embody “the von Neumann of the 21st century.”

About This Project

A century after John von Neumann laid the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, the theoretical physicist Edward Witten has pointed out that operator algebras are essential to understanding quantum gravity — leading many to say that “von Neumann was a hundred years ahead of his time.”

While operator algebra theory has developed into a powerful mathematical framework underlying quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and quantum statistical mechanics, its full integration with quantum information theory remains largely unexplored. Bringing together researchers across mathematics, physics, and information theory — a combination made possible by RIKEN’s breadth — this project aims to bridge that gap, with expected outcomes ranging from fault-tolerant quantum computing to a new mathematical understanding of quantum gravity.

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