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Loop-Loop Interactions Regulate KaiA-Stimulated KaiC Phosphorylation in the Cyanobacterial KaiABC Circadian Clock
We found that the Synechococcus elongatus KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC proteins in the presence of ATP generate a post-translational oscillator that runs in a temperature-compensated manner with a period of 24 h. KaiA dimer stimulates phosphorylation of KaiC hexamer at two sites per subunit, T432 and S431, and KaiB dimers antagonize KaiA action and induce KaiC subunit exchange. Neither the mechanism of KaiA-stimulated KaiC phosphorylation nor that of KaiB-mediated KaiC dephosphorylation is understood in detail at present. We demonstrate here that the A422V KaiC mutant sheds light on the former mechanism. It was previously reported that A422V is less sensitive to dark pulse-induced phase resetting and has a reduced amplitude of the KaiC phosphorylation rhythm in vivo. A422 maps to a loop (422-loop) that continues toward the phosphorylation sites. By pulling on the C-terminal peptide of KaiC (A-loop), KaiA removes restraints from the adjacent 422-loop whose increased flexibility indirectly promotes kinase activity. We found in the crystal structure that A422V KaiC lacks phosphorylation at S431 and exhibits a subtle, local conformational change relative to wild-type KaiC. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate higher mobility of the 422-loop in the absence of the A-loop and mobility differences in other areas associated with phosphorylation activity between wild-type and mutant KaiCs. Finally, the A-loop–422-loop relay that informs KaiC phosphorylation sites of KaiA dimer binding propagates to loops from neighboring KaiC subunits, thus providing support for a concerted allosteric mechanism of phosphorylation.
Engineering Clock Transitions in Molecular Lanthanide Complexes
Not Available
Identification of an X-Band Clock Transition in Cp′ 3 Pr – Enabled by a 4f 2 5d 1 Configuration
Not Available
Clocking Auger electrons
Intense X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) can rapidly excite matter, leaving it in inherently unstable states that decay on femtosecond timescales. The relaxation occurs primarily via Auger emission, so excited-state observations are constrained by Auger decay. In situ measurement of this process is therefore crucial, yet it has thus far remained elusive in XFELs owing to inherent timing and phase jitter, which can be orders of magnitude larger than the timescale of Auger decay. Here we develop an approach termed ‘self-referenced attosecond streaking’ that provides subfemtosecond resolution in spite of jitter, enabling time-domain measurement of the delay between photoemission and Auger emission in atomic neon excited by intense, femtosecond pulses from an XFEL. FUrthermore, using a fully quantum-mechanical description that treats the ionization, core-hole formation and Auger emission as a single process, the observed delay yields an Auger decay lifetime of \(2.2_{ - 0.3}^{ + 0.2}\) fs for the KLL decay channel.
Realizing spin squeezing with Rydberg interactions in an optical clock
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Frequency ratio of the 229mTh nuclear isomeric transition and the 87Sr atomic clock
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Universal quantum operations and ancilla-based read-out for tweezer clocks
Not provided.
Feedback and harmonic locking of slot-type optomechanical oscillators to external low-noise reference clocks
N/A
The magnetospheric clock of Saturn—A self-organized plasma dynamo
The plasma in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn is characterized by large-amplitude azimuthal density variations in the equatorial plane, with approximately a sinusoidal dependence on the azimuthal angle [D. A. Gurnett et al., Science 316, 442 (2007)]. This structure rotates with close to the period of the planet itself and has been proposed to steer other nonaxisymmetric phenomena, e.g., the Saturn kilometric radiation SKR [W. S. Kurth et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L02201 (2007)], and inner-magnetosphere magnetic field perturbations [D. J. Southwood and M. G. Kivelson, J. Geophys. Res. 112(A12), A12222 (2007)]. There is today no consensus regarding the basic driving mechanism. We here propose it to be a plasma dynamo, located in the neutral gas torus of Enceladus but coupled both inwards, through electric currents along the magnetic field lines down to the planet, and outwards through the plasma flow pattern there. Such a dynamo mechanism is shown to self-regulate towards a state that, with realistic parameters, can reproduce the observed configuration of the magnetosphere. This state is characterized by three quantities: the Pedersen conductivity in the polar cap, the ionization time constant in the neutral gas torus, and a parameter characterizing the plasma flow pattern. A particularly interesting property of the dynamo is that regular (i.e., constant-amplitude, sinusoidal) variations in the last parameter can lead to complicated, non-periodic, oscillations around the steady-state configuration.
Spectroscopy of the quadrupole clock transition of ytterbium-171 ions for optical frequency standard development
We outline the results of the spectroscopic investigation of the quadrupole transition of a single ytterbium-171 ion as applied to the development of an optical frequency standard with a relative uncertainty and long-term frequency instability of less than 10{sup −17}. The spectral width of the resonance recorded at the centre transition frequency amounts to about 30 Hz. (paper)
Optical pumping of ultracold thulium atoms to a lower level of the clock transition and study of their depolarisation
The atomic energy levels corresponding to states with the zero projection of the total angular momentum have a weak sensitivity to certain sources of shifts and, therefore, are widely used in precision spectroscopy. The optical pumping of ultracold thulium atoms to the ground state level with the zero projection of the total angular momentum is described. The population dynamics of this state due to magnetic dipole − dipole interaction in an external magnetic field is studied. (paper)
Clocked atom delivery to a photonic crystal waveguide
Experiments and numerical simulations are described that develop quantitative understanding of atomic motion near the surfaces of nanoscopic photonic crystal waveguides (PCWs). Ultracold atoms are delivered from a moving optical lattice into the PCW. Synchronous with the moving lattice, transmission spectra for a guided-mode probe field are recorded as functions of lattice transport time and frequency detuning of the probe beam. By way of measurements such as these, we have been able to validate quantitatively our numerical simulations, which are based upon detailed understanding of atomic trajectories that pass around and through nanoscopic regions of the PCW under the influence of optical and surface forces. The resolution for mapping atomic motion is roughly 50 nm in space and 100 ns in time. By introducing auxiliary guided-mode (GM) fields that provide spatially varying AC Stark shifts, we have, to some degree, begun to control atomic trajectories, such as to enhance the flux into the central vacuum gap of the PCW at predetermined times and with known AC Stark shifts. In conclusion, applications of these capabilities include enabling high fractional filling of optical trap sites within PCWs, calibration of optical fields within PCWs, and utilization of the time-dependent, optically dense atomic medium for novel nonlinear optical experiments.