The Josephson heat interferometer

The Josephson effect represents perhaps the prototype of macroscopic phase coherence and is at the basis of the most widespread interferometer, i.e., the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Yet, in analogy to electric interference, Maki and Griffin predicted in 1965 that thermal current flowing through a temperature-biased Josephson tunnel junction is a stationary periodic function of the quantum phase difference between the superconductors. The interplay between quasiparticles and Cooper pairs condensate is at the origin of such phase-dependent heat current, and is unique to Josephson junctions. In this scenario, a temperature-biased SQUID would allow heat currents to interfere thus implementing the thermal version of the electric Josephson interferometer. The dissipative character of heat flux makes this coherent phenomenon not less extraordinary than its electric (non-dissipative) counterpart. Albeit weird, this striking effect has never been demonstrated so far. Here we report the first experimental realization of a heat interferometer. We investigate heat exchange between two normal metal electrodes kept at different temperatures and tunnel-coupled to each other through a thermal `modulator' in the form of a DC-SQUID. Heat transport in the system is found to be phase dependent, in agreement with the original prediction. With our design the Josephson heat interferometer yields magnetic-flux-dependent temperature oscillations of amplitude up to ~21 mK, and provides a flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient exceeding ~ 60mK/Phi_0 at 235 mK [Phi_0 2* 10^(-15) Wb is the flux quantum]. Besides offering remarkable insight into thermal transport in Josephson junctions, our results represent a significant step toward phase-coherent mastering of heat in solid-state nanocircuits, and pave the way to the design of novel-concept coherent caloritronic devices.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 color figure

The alpha-kinase family: an exceptional branch on the protein kinase tree

The alpha-kinase family represents a class of atypical protein kinases that display little sequence similarity to conventional protein kinases. Early studies on myosin heavy chain kinases in Dictyostelium discoideum revealed their unusual propensity to phosphorylate serine and threonine residues in the context of an alpha-helix. Although recent studies show that some members of this family can also phosphorylate residues in non-helical regions, the name alpha-kinase has remained. During evolution, the alpha-kinase domains combined with many different functional subdomains such as von Willebrand factor-like motifs (vWKa) and even cation channels (TRPM6 and TRPM7). As a result, these kinases are implicated in a large variety of cellular processes such as protein translation, Mg2+ homeostasis, intracellular transport, cell migration, adhesion, and proliferation. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on different members of this kinase family and discuss the potential use of alpha-kinases as drug targets in diseases such as cancer

FCC-hh: The Hadron Collider: Future circular collider conceptual design report volume 3

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries

FCC Physics Opportunities: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 1

We review the physics opportunities of the Future Circular Collider, covering its e+e-, pp, ep and heavy ion programmes. We describe the measurement capabilities of each FCC component, addressing the study of electroweak, Higgs and strong interactions, the top quark and flavour, as well as phenomena beyond the Standard Model. We highlight the synergy and complementarity of the different colliders, which will contribute to a uniquely coherent and ambitious research programme, providing an unmatchable combination of precision and sensitivity to new physics

HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre-of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries