Homolog Pairing at the Push of a Button

A push-button molecular switch.

The preparation, characterization, and switching mechanism of a unique single-station mechanically switchable hetero[2]catenane are reported. The facile synthesis utilizing a "threading-followed-by-clipping" protocol features Cu(2+)-catalyzed Eglinton coupling as a mild and efficient route to the tetrathiafulvalene-based catenane in high yield. The resulting mechanically interlocked molecule op...

Commentary: Push–button analyses

Button-enabled Device Pairing

Secure initial pairing of electronic gadgets is a challenging problem, especially considering lack of any common security infrastructure. The main security issue is the threat of so-called Man-in-the-Middle (MiTM) attacks, whereby an attacker inserts itself into the pairing protocol by impersonating one of the legitimate parties. A number of interesting techniques have been proposed, all of whi...

Golok: Push-button Verification of Parameterized Systems

Parameterized systems verification is a long-standing problem, where the challenge is to verify that a property holds for all (infinite) instances of the parameterized system. Existing techniques aim to reduce this problem to checking the properties on smaller systems with a bound on the parameter referred to as the "cut-off " such that if the property holds for system instances of size cut-off...

Push button generation of multiphoton entanglement

Photon entanglement is an essential ingredient for linear optics quantum computing schemes, quantum cryptographic protocols and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. Here we describe a setup that allows for the generation of polarisation-entangled N -photon states on demand. The photons are obtained by mapping the entangled state of N atoms, each of them trapped inside an optical cavity, onto...