TY - JOUR AB - From microwave ovens to satellite television to the GPS and data services on our mobile phones, microwave technology is everywhere today. But one technology that has so far failed to prove its worth in this wavelength regime is quantum communication that uses the states of single photons as information carriers. This is because single microwave photons, as opposed to classical microwave signals, are extremely vulnerable to noise from thermal excitations in the channels through which they travel. Two new independent studies, one by Ze-Liang Xiang at Technische Universität Wien (Vienna), Austria, and colleagues [1] and another by Benoît Vermersch at the University of Innsbruck, also in Austria, and colleagues [2] now describe a theoretical protocol for microwave quantum communication that is resilient to thermal and other types of noise. Their approach could become a powerful technique to establish fast links between superconducting data processors in a future all-microwave quantum network. AU - Fink, Johannes M ID - 1013 IS - 32 JF - Physics TI - Viewpoint: Microwave quantum states beat the heat VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vahid Belarghou, Afshin AU - Šarić, Anđela AU - Idema, Timon ID - 10126 IS - 3 JF - Biophysical Journal KW - biophysics SN - 0006-3495 TI - Curvature mediated interactions in highly curved membranes VL - 112 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We study periodic homogenization by Γ-convergence of integral functionals with integrands W(x,ξ) having no polynomial growth and which are both not necessarily continuous with respect to the space variable and not necessarily convex with respect to the matrix variable. This allows to deal with homogenization of composite hyperelastic materials consisting of two or more periodic components whose the energy densities tend to infinity as the volume of matter tends to zero, i.e., W(x,ξ)=∑j∈J1Vj(x)Hj(ξ) where {Vj}j∈J is a finite family of open disjoint subsets of RN, with |∂Vj|=0 for all j∈J and ∣∣RN∖⋃j∈JVj|=0, and, for each j∈J, Hj(ξ)→∞ as detξ→0. In fact, our results apply to integrands of type W(x,ξ)=a(x)H(ξ) when H(ξ)→∞ as detξ→0 and a∈L∞(RN;[0,∞[) is 1-periodic and is either continuous almost everywhere or not continuous. When a is not continuous, we obtain a density homogenization formula which is a priori different from the classical one by Braides–Müller. Although applications to hyperelasticity are limited due to the fact that our framework is not consistent with the constraint of noninterpenetration of the matter, our results can be of technical interest to analysis of homogenization of integral functionals. AU - Anza Hafsa, Omar AU - Clozeau, Nicolas AU - Mandallena, Jean-Philippe ID - 10175 IS - 2 JF - Annales mathématiques Blaise Pascal SN - 1259-1734 TI - Homogenization of nonconvex unbounded singular integrals VL - 24 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We investigate effects of quasiparticle poisoning in a Majorana island with strong tunnel coupling to normal-metal leads. In addition to the main Coulomb blockade diamonds, "shadow" diamonds appear, shifted by 1e in gate voltage, consistent with transport through an excited (poisoned) state of the island. Comparison to a simple model yields an estimate of parity lifetime for the strongly coupled island (∼1 μs) and sets a bound for a weakly coupled island (>10 μs). Fluctuations in the gate-voltage spacing of Coulomb peaks at high field, reflecting Majorana hybridization, are enhanced by the reduced lever arm at strong coupling. When converted from gate voltage to energy units, fluctuations are consistent with previous measurements. AU - Albrecht, S M AU - Hansen, Esben AU - Higginbotham, Andrew P AU - Kuemmeth, Ferdinand AU - Jespersen, Thomas AU - Nygård, Jesper AU - Krogstrup, Peter AU - Danon, Jeroen AU - Flensberg, Karsten AU - Marcus, Charles ID - 103 IS - 13 JF - APS Physics, Physical Review Letters TI - Transport signatures of quasiparticle poisoning in a majorana island VL - 118 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Eukaryotic cells are densely packed with macromolecular complexes and intertwining organelles, continually transported and reshaped. Intriguingly, organelles avoid clashing and entangling with each other in such limited space. Mitochondria form extensive networks constantly remodeled by fission and fusion. Here, we show that mitochondrial fission is triggered by mechanical forces. Mechano-stimulation of mitochondria – via encounter with motile intracellular pathogens, via external pressure applied by an atomic force microscope, or via cell migration across uneven microsurfaces – results in the recruitment of the mitochondrial fission machinery, and subsequent division. We propose that MFF, owing to affinity for narrow mitochondria, acts as a membrane-bound force sensor to recruit the fission machinery to mechanically strained sites. Thus, mitochondria adapt to the environment by sensing and responding to biomechanical cues. Our findings that mechanical triggers can be coupled to biochemical responses in membrane dynamics may explain how organelles orderly cohabit in the crowded cytoplasm. AU - Helle, Sebastian Carsten Johannes AU - Feng, Qian AU - Aebersold, Mathias J AU - Hirt, Luca AU - Grüter, Raphael R AU - Vahid, Afshin AU - Sirianni, Andrea AU - Mostowy, Serge AU - Snedeker, Jess G AU - Šarić, Anđela AU - Idema, Timon AU - Zambelli, Tomaso AU - Kornmann, Benoît ID - 10370 JF - eLife KW - general immunology and microbiology KW - general biochemistry KW - genetics and molecular biology KW - general medicine KW - general neuroscience SN - 2050-084X TI - Mechanical force induces mitochondrial fission VL - 6 ER -