University of Düsseldorf

About: University of Düsseldorf is a education organization based out in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Diabetes mellitus. The organization has 25225 authors who have published 49155 publications receiving 1946434 citations.

Majorana box qubits

Abstract: Quantum information protected by the topology of the storage medium is expected to exhibit long coherence times. Another feature is topologically protected gates generated through braiding of Majorana bound states (MBSs). However, braiding requires structures with branched topological segments which have inherent difficulties in the semiconductor–superconductor heterostructures now believed to host MBSs. In this paper, we construct quantum bits taking advantage of the topological protection and non-local properties of MBSs in a network of parallel wires, but without relying on braiding for quantum gates. The elementary unit is made from three topological wires, two wires coupled by a trivial superconductor and the third acting as an interference arm. Coulomb blockade of the combined wires spawns a fractionalized spin, non-locally addressable by quantum dots used for single-qubit readout, initialization, and manipulation. We describe how the same tools allow for measurement-based implementation of the Clifford gates, in total making the architecture universal. Proof-of-principle demonstration of topologically protected qubits using existing techniques is therefore within reach.

Fast and Sensitive Colloidal Coomassie G-250 Staining for Proteins in Polyacrylamide Gels

Abstract: Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) is a dye commonly used for the visualization of proteins separated by SDS-PAGE, offering a simple staining procedure and high quantitation. Furthermore, it is completely compatible with mass spectrometric protein identification. But despite these advantages, CBB is regarded to be less sensitive than silver or fluorescence stainings and therefore rarely used for the detection of proteins in analytical gel-based proteomic approaches. Several improvements of the original Coomassie protocol(1) have been made to increase the sensitivity of CBB. Two major modifications were introduced to enhance the detection of low-abundant proteins by converting the dye molecules into colloidal particles: In 1988, Neuhoff and colleagues applied 20% methanol and higher concentrations of ammonium sulfate into the CBB G-250 based staining solution(2), and in 2004 Candiano et al. established Blue Silver using CBB G-250 with phosphoric acid in the presence of ammonium sulfate and methanol(3). Nevertheless, all these modifications just allow a detection of approximately 10 ng protein. A widely fameless protocol for colloidal Coomassie staining was published by Kang et al. in 2002 where they modified Neuhoff's colloidal CBB staining protocol regarding the complexing substances. Instead of ammonium sulfate they used aluminum sulfate and methanol was replaced by the less toxic ethanol(4). The novel aluminum-based staining in Kang's study showed superior sensitivity that detects as low as 1 ng/band (phosphorylase b) with little sensitivity variation depending on proteins. Here, we demonstrate application of Kang's protocol for fast and sensitive colloidal Coomassie staining of proteins in analytical purposes. We will illustrate the quick and easy protocol using two-dimensional gels routinely performed in our working group.

Brownian motion of a self-propelled particle.

Abstract: Overdamped Brownian motion of a self-propelled particle is studied by solving the Langevin equation analytically. On top of translational and rotational diffusion, in the context of the presented model, the 'active' particle is driven along its internal orientation axis. We calculate the first four moments of the probability distribution function for displacements as a function of time for a spherical particle with isotropic translational diffusion, as well as for an anisotropic ellipsoidal particle. In both cases the translational and rotational motion is either unconfined or confined to one or two dimensions. A significant non-Gaussian behaviour at finite times t is signalled by a non-vanishing kurtosis γ(t). To delimit the super-diffusive regime, which occurs at intermediate times, two timescales are identified. For certain model situations a characteristic t3 behaviour of the mean-square displacement is observed. Comparing the dynamics of real and artificial microswimmers, like bacteria or catalytically driven Janus particles, to our analytical expressions reveals whether their motion is Brownian or not.