@article{9000, abstract = {In prokaryotes, thermodynamic models of gene regulation provide a highly quantitative mapping from promoter sequences to gene-expression levels that is compatible with in vivo and in vitro biophysical measurements. Such concordance has not been achieved for models of enhancer function in eukaryotes. In equilibrium models, it is difficult to reconcile the reported short transcription factor (TF) residence times on the DNA with the high specificity of regulation. In nonequilibrium models, progress is difficult due to an explosion in the number of parameters. Here, we navigate this complexity by looking for minimal nonequilibrium enhancer models that yield desired regulatory phenotypes: low TF residence time, high specificity, and tunable cooperativity. We find that a single extra parameter, interpretable as the “linking rate,” by which bound TFs interact with Mediator components, enables our models to escape equilibrium bounds and access optimal regulatory phenotypes, while remaining consistent with the reported phenomenology and simple enough to be inferred from upcoming experiments. We further find that high specificity in nonequilibrium models is in a trade-off with gene-expression noise, predicting bursty dynamics—an experimentally observed hallmark of eukaryotic transcription. By drastically reducing the vast parameter space of nonequilibrium enhancer models to a much smaller subspace that optimally realizes biological function, we deliver a rich class of models that could be tractably inferred from data in the near future.}, author = {Grah, Rok and Zoller, Benjamin and Tkačik, Gašper}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {50}, pages = {31614--31622}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{Nonequilibrium models of optimal enhancer function}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2006731117}, volume = {117}, year = {2020}, } @inproceedings{9001, abstract = {Quantum illumination is a sensing technique that employs entangled signal-idler beams to improve the detection efficiency of low-reflectivity objects in environments with large thermal noise. The advantage over classical strategies is evident at low signal brightness, a feature which could make the protocol an ideal prototype for non-invasive scanning or low-power short-range radar. Here we experimentally investigate the concept of quantum illumination at microwave frequencies, by generating entangled fields using a Josephson parametric converter which are then amplified to illuminate a room-temperature object at a distance of 1 meter. Starting from experimental data, we simulate the case of perfect idler photon number detection, which results in a quantum advantage compared to the relative classical benchmark. Our results highlight the opportunities and challenges on the way towards a first room-temperature application of microwave quantum circuits.}, author = {Barzanjeh, Shabir and Pirandola, Stefano and Vitali, David and Fink, Johannes M}, booktitle = {IEEE National Radar Conference - Proceedings}, isbn = {9781728189420}, issn = {1097-5659}, location = {Florence, Italy}, number = {9}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Microwave quantum illumination with a digital phase-conjugated receiver}}, doi = {10.1109/RadarConf2043947.2020.9266397}, volume = {2020}, year = {2020}, } @article{9011, abstract = {Distributed ledgers provide high availability and integrity, making them a key enabler for practical and secure computation of distributed workloads among mutually distrustful parties. Many practical applications also require strong confidentiality, however. This work enhances permissioned and permissionless blockchains with the ability to manage confidential data without forfeiting availability or decentralization. The proposed Calypso architecture addresses two orthogonal challenges confronting modern distributed ledgers: (a) enabling the auditable management of secrets and (b) protecting distributed computations against arbitrage attacks when their results depend on the ordering and secrecy of inputs. Calypso introduces on-chain secrets, a novel abstraction that enforces atomic deposition of an auditable trace whenever users access confidential data. Calypso provides user-controlled consent management that ensures revocation atomicity and accountable anonymity. To enable permissionless deployment, we introduce an incentive scheme and provide users with the option to select their preferred trustees. We evaluated our Calypso prototype with a confidential document-sharing application and a decentralized lottery. Our benchmarks show that transaction-processing latency increases linearly in terms of security (number of trustees) and is in the range of 0.2 to 8 seconds for 16 to 128 trustees.}, author = {Kokoris Kogias, Eleftherios and Alp, Enis Ceyhun and Gasser, Linus and Jovanovic, Philipp and Syta, Ewa and Ford, Bryan}, issn = {2150-8097}, journal = {Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment}, number = {4}, pages = {586--599}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {{CALYPSO: Private data management for decentralized ledgers}}, doi = {10.14778/3436905.3436917}, volume = {14}, year = {2020}, } @article{9039, abstract = {We give a short and self-contained proof for rates of convergence of the Allen--Cahn equation towards mean curvature flow, assuming that a classical (smooth) solution to the latter exists and starting from well-prepared initial data. Our approach is based on a relative entropy technique. In particular, it does not require a stability analysis for the linearized Allen--Cahn operator. As our analysis also does not rely on the comparison principle, we expect it to be applicable to more complex equations and systems.}, author = {Fischer, Julian L and Laux, Tim and Simon, Theresa M.}, issn = {1095-7154}, journal = {SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis}, number = {6}, pages = {6222--6233}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Convergence rates of the Allen-Cahn equation to mean curvature flow: A short proof based on relative entropies}}, doi = {10.1137/20M1322182}, volume = {52}, year = {2020}, } @inproceedings{9040, abstract = {Machine learning and formal methods have complimentary benefits and drawbacks. In this work, we address the controller-design problem with a combination of techniques from both fields. The use of black-box neural networks in deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) poses a challenge for such a combination. Instead of reasoning formally about the output of deep RL, which we call the wizard, we extract from it a decision-tree based model, which we refer to as the magic book. Using the extracted model as an intermediary, we are able to handle problems that are infeasible for either deep RL or formal methods by themselves. First, we suggest, for the first time, a synthesis procedure that is based on a magic book. We synthesize a stand-alone correct-by-design controller that enjoys the favorable performance of RL. Second, we incorporate a magic book in a bounded model checking (BMC) procedure. BMC allows us to find numerous traces of the plant under the control of the wizard, which a user can use to increase the trustworthiness of the wizard and direct further training.}, author = {Alamdari, Par Alizadeh and Avni, Guy and Henzinger, Thomas A and Lukina, Anna}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 20th Conference on Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design}, isbn = {9783854480426}, issn = {2708-7824}, location = {Online Conference}, pages = {138--147}, publisher = {TU Wien Academic Press}, title = {{Formal methods with a touch of magic}}, doi = {10.34727/2020/isbn.978-3-85448-042-6_21}, year = {2020}, } @article{9067, abstract = {Gadolinium silicide (Gd5Si4) nanoparticles are an interesting class of materials due to their high magnetization, low Curie temperature, low toxicity in biological environments and their multifunctional properties. We report the magnetic and magnetothermal properties of gadolinium silicide (Gd5Si4) nanoparticles prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling of arc melted bulk ingots of the compound. Using different milling times and speeds, a wide range of crystallite sizes (13–43 nm) could be produced and a reduction in Curie temperature (TC) from 340 K to 317 K was achieved, making these nanoparticles suitable for self-controlled magnetic hyperthermia applications. The magnetothermal effect was measured in applied AC magnetic fields of amplitude 164–239 Oe and frequencies 163–519 kHz. All particles showed magnetic heating with a strong dependence of the specific absorption rate (SAR) on the average crystallite size. The highest SAR of 3.7 W g−1 was measured for 43 nm sized nanoparticles of Gd5Si4. The high SAR and low TC, (within the therapeutic range for magnetothermal therapy) makes the Gd5Si4 behave like self-regulating heat switches that would be suitable for self-controlled magnetic hyperthermia applications after biocompatibility and cytotoxicity tests.}, author = {Nauman, Muhammad and Alnasir, Muhammad Hisham and Hamayun, Muhammad Asif and Wang, YiXu and Shatruk, Michael and Manzoor, Sadia}, issn = {2046-2069}, journal = {RSC Advances}, keywords = {General Chemistry, General Chemical Engineering}, number = {47}, pages = {28383--28389}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, title = {{Size-dependent magnetic and magnetothermal properties of gadolinium silicide nanoparticles}}, doi = {10.1039/d0ra05394e}, volume = {10}, year = {2020}, } @inproceedings{9103, abstract = {We introduce LRT-NG, a set of techniques and an associated toolset that computes a reachtube (an over-approximation of the set of reachable states over a given time horizon) of a nonlinear dynamical system. LRT-NG significantly advances the state-of-the-art Langrangian Reachability and its associated tool LRT. From a theoretical perspective, LRT-NG is superior to LRT in three ways. First, it uses for the first time an analytically computed metric for the propagated ball which is proven to minimize the ball’s volume. We emphasize that the metric computation is the centerpiece of all bloating-based techniques. Secondly, it computes the next reachset as the intersection of two balls: one based on the Cartesian metric and the other on the new metric. While the two metrics were previously considered opposing approaches, their joint use considerably tightens the reachtubes. Thirdly, it avoids the "wrapping effect" associated with the validated integration of the center of the reachset, by optimally absorbing the interval approximation in the radius of the next ball. From a tool-development perspective, LRT-NG is superior to LRT in two ways. First, it is a standalone tool that no longer relies on CAPD. This required the implementation of the Lohner method and a Runge-Kutta time-propagation method. Secondly, it has an improved interface, allowing the input model and initial conditions to be provided as external input files. Our experiments on a comprehensive set of benchmarks, including two Neural ODEs, demonstrates LRT-NG’s superior performance compared to LRT, CAPD, and Flow*.}, author = {Gruenbacher, Sophie and Cyranka, Jacek and Lechner, Mathias and Islam, Md Ariful and Smolka, Scott A. and Grosu, Radu}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 59th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, isbn = {9781728174471}, issn = {0743-1546}, location = {Jeju Islang, Korea (South)}, pages = {1556--1563}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Lagrangian reachtubes: The next generation}}, doi = {10.1109/CDC42340.2020.9304042}, volume = {2020}, year = {2020}, } @article{9104, abstract = {We consider the free additive convolution of two probability measures μ and ν on the real line and show that μ ⊞ v is supported on a single interval if μ and ν each has single interval support. Moreover, the density of μ ⊞ ν is proven to vanish as a square root near the edges of its support if both μ and ν have power law behavior with exponents between −1 and 1 near their edges. In particular, these results show the ubiquity of the conditions in our recent work on optimal local law at the spectral edges for addition of random matrices [5].}, author = {Bao, Zhigang and Erdös, László and Schnelli, Kevin}, issn = {1565-8538}, journal = {Journal d'Analyse Mathematique}, pages = {323--348}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{On the support of the free additive convolution}}, doi = {10.1007/s11854-020-0135-2}, volume = {142}, year = {2020}, } @unpublished{9124, abstract = {The couplings among clouds, convection, and circulation in trade-wind regimes remain a fundamental puzzle that limits our ability to constrain future climate change. Radiative heating plays an important role in these couplings. Here we calculate the clear-sky radiative profiles from 2001 in-situ soundings (978 dropsondes and 1023 radiosondes) collected during the EUREC4A field campaign, which took place south and east of Barbados in January–February 2020. We describe the method used to calculate these radiative profiles and present preliminary results sampling variability at multiple scales, from the variability across all soundings to groupings by diurnal cycle and mesoscale organization state, as well as individual soundings associated with elevated moisture layers. This clear-sky radiative profiles data set can provide important missing detail to what can be learned from calculations based on passive remote sensing and help in investigating the role of radiation in dynamic and thermodynamic variability in trade-wind regimes. All data are archived and freely available for public access on AERIS (Albright et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.25326/78).}, author = {Albright, Anna Lea and Fildier, Benjamin and Touzé-Peiffer, Ludovic and Pincus, Robert and Vial, Jessica and Muller, Caroline J}, booktitle = {Earth System Science Data}, publisher = {Copernicus Publications}, title = {{Atmospheric radiative profiles during EUREC4A}}, doi = {10.5194/essd-2020-269}, year = {2020}, } @article{9125, abstract = {This study investigates the feedbacks between an interactive sea surface temperature (SST) and the self‐aggregation of deep convective clouds, using a cloud‐resolving model in nonrotating radiative‐convective equilibrium. The ocean is modeled as one layer slab with a temporally fixed mean but spatially varying temperature. We find that the interactive SST decelerates the aggregation and that the deceleration is larger with a shallower slab, consistent with earlier studies. The surface temperature anomaly in dry regions is positive at first, thus opposing the diverging shallow circulation known to favor self‐aggregation, consistent with the slower aggregation. But surprisingly, the driest columns then have a negative SST anomaly, thus strengthening the diverging shallow circulation and favoring aggregation. This diverging circulation out of dry regions is found to be well correlated with the aggregation speed. It can be linked to a positive surface pressure anomaly (PSFC), itself the consequence of SST anomalies and boundary layer radiative cooling. The latter cools and dries the boundary layer, thus increasing PSFC anomalies through virtual effects and hydrostasy. Sensitivity experiments confirm the key role played by boundary layer radiative cooling in determining PSFC anomalies in dry regions, and thus the shallow diverging circulation and the aggregation speed.}, author = {Shamekh, S. and Muller, Caroline J and Duvel, J.‐P. and D'Andrea, F.}, issn = {1942-2466}, journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems}, keywords = {Global and Planetary Change, General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Environmental Chemistry}, number = {11}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{Self‐aggregation of convective clouds with interactive sea surface temperature}}, doi = {10.1029/2020ms002164}, volume = {12}, year = {2020}, } @article{9126, abstract = {The goal of this study is to understand the mechanisms controlling the isotopic composition of the water vapor near the surface of tropical oceans, at the scale of about a hundred kilometers and a month. In the tropics, it has long been observed that the isotopic compositions of rain and vapor near the surface are more depleted when the precipitation rate is high. This is called the “amount effect.” Previous studies, based on observations or models with parameterized convection, have highlighted the roles of deep convective and mesoscale downdrafts and rain evaporation. But the relative importance of these processes has never been quantified. We hypothesize that it can be quantified using an analytical model constrained by large‐eddy simulations. Results from large‐eddy simulations confirm that the classical amount effect can be simulated only if precipitation rate changes result from changes in the large‐scale circulation. We find that the main process depleting the water vapor compared to the equilibrium with the ocean is the fact that updrafts stem from areas where the water vapor is more enriched. The main process responsible for the amount effect is the fact that when the large‐scale ascent increases, isotopic vertical gradients are steeper, so that updrafts and downdrafts deplete the subcloud layer more efficiently.}, author = {Risi, Camille and Muller, Caroline J and Blossey, Peter}, issn = {1942-2466}, journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems}, keywords = {Global and Planetary Change, General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Environmental Chemistry}, number = {8}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{What controls the water vapor isotopic composition near the surface of tropical oceans? Results from an analytical model constrained by large‐eddy simulations}}, doi = {10.1029/2020ms002106}, volume = {12}, year = {2020}, } @article{9127, abstract = {Nearly all regions in the world are projected to become dryer in a warming climate. Here, we investigate the Mediterranean region, often referred to as a climate change “hot spot”. From regional climate simulations, it is shown that although enhanced warming and drying over land is projected, the spatial pattern displays high variability. Indeed, drying is largely caused by enhanced warming over land. However, in Northern Europe, soil moisture alleviates warming induced drying by up to 50% due to humidity uptake from land. In already arid regions, the Mediterranean Sea is generally the only humidity source, and drying is only due to land warming. However, over Sahara and the Iberian Peninsula, enhanced warming over land is insufficient to explain the extreme drying. These regions are also isolated from humidity advection by heat lows, which are cyclonic circulation anomalies associated with surface heating over land. The cyclonic circulation scales with the temperature gradient between land and ocean which increases with climate change, reinforcing the cyclonic circulation over Sahara and the Iberian Peninsula, both diverting the zonal advection of humidity to the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The dynamics are therefore key in the warming and drying of the Mediterranean region, with extreme aridification over the Sahara and Iberian Peninsula. In these regions, the risk for human health due to the thermal load which accounts for air temperature and humidity is therefore projected to increase significantly with climate change at a level of extreme danger.}, author = {Drobinski, Philippe and Da Silva, Nicolas and Bastin, Sophie and Mailler, Sylvain and Muller, Caroline J and Ahrens, Bodo and Christensen, Ole B. and Lionello, Piero}, issn = {1436-3798}, journal = {Regional Environmental Change}, keywords = {Global and Planetary Change}, number = {9}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{How warmer and drier will the Mediterranean region be at the end of the twenty-first century?}}, doi = {10.1007/s10113-020-01659-w}, volume = {20}, year = {2020}, } @article{9128, abstract = {This paper reviews recent important advances in our understanding of the response of precipitation extremes to warming from theory and from idealized cloud-resolving simulations. A theoretical scaling for precipitation extremes has been proposed and refined in the past decades, allowing to address separately the contributions from the thermodynamics, the dynamics and the microphysics. Theoretical constraints, as well as remaining uncertainties, associated with each of these three contributions to precipitation extremes, are discussed. Notably, although to leading order precipitation extremes seem to follow the thermodynamic theoretical expectation in idealized simulations, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the response of the dynamics and of the microphysics to warming, and considerable departure from this theoretical expectation is found in observations and in more realistic simulations. We also emphasize key outstanding questions, in particular the response of mesoscale convective organization to warming. Observations suggest that extreme rainfall often comes from an organized system in very moist environments. Improved understanding of the physical processes behind convective organization is needed in order to achieve accurate extreme rainfall prediction in our current, and in a warming climate.}, author = {Muller, Caroline J and Takayabu, Yukari}, issn = {1748-9326}, journal = {Environmental Research Letters}, keywords = {Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, General Environmental Science}, number = {3}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Response of precipitation extremes to warming: What have we learned from theory and idealized cloud-resolving simulations, and what remains to be learned?}}, doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/ab7130}, volume = {15}, year = {2020}, } @unpublished{9150, abstract = {The goal of this study is twofold. First, we aim at developing a simple model as an interpretative framework for the water vapor isotopic variations in the tropical troposphere over the ocean. We use large-eddy simulations to justify the underlying assumptions of this simple model, to constrain its input parameters and to evaluate its results. Second, we aim at interpreting the depletion of the water vapor isotopic composition in the lower and mid-troposphere as precipitation increases, which is a salient feature in tropical oceanic observations. This feature constitutes a stringent test on the relevance of our interpretative framework. Previous studies, based on observations or on models with parameterized convection, have highlighted the roles of deep convective and meso-scale downdrafts, rain evaporation, rain-vapor diffusive exchanges and mixing processes. The interpretative framework that we develop is a two-column model representing the net ascent in clouds and the net descent in the environment. We show that the mechanisms for depleting the troposphere when precipitation rate increases all stem from the higher tropospheric relative humidity. First, when the relative humidity is larger, less snow sublimates before melting and a smaller fraction of rain evaporates. Both effects lead to more depleted rain evaporation and eventually more depleted water vapor. This mechanism dominates in regimes of large-scale ascent. Second, the entrainment of dry air into clouds reduces the vertical isotopic gradient and limits the depletion of tropospheric water vapor. This mechanism dominates in regimes of large-scale descent.}, author = {Risi, Camille and Muller, Caroline J and Blossey, Peter N.}, publisher = {ESSOAr}, title = {{Rain evaporation, snow melt and entrainment at the heart of water vapor isotopic variations in the tropical troposphere, according to large-eddy simulations and a two-column model}}, doi = {10.1002/essoar.10504670.1}, year = {2020}, } @article{9156, abstract = {The morphometric approach [11, 14] writes the solvation free energy as a linear combination of weighted versions of the volume, area, mean curvature, and Gaussian curvature of the space-filling diagram. We give a formula for the derivative of the weighted Gaussian curvature. Together with the derivatives of the weighted volume in [7], the weighted area in [4], and the weighted mean curvature in [1], this yields the derivative of the morphometric expression of solvation free energy.}, author = {Akopyan, Arseniy and Edelsbrunner, Herbert}, issn = {2544-7297}, journal = {Computational and Mathematical Biophysics}, number = {1}, pages = {74--88}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, title = {{The weighted Gaussian curvature derivative of a space-filling diagram}}, doi = {10.1515/cmb-2020-0101}, volume = {8}, year = {2020}, } @article{9157, abstract = {Representing an atom by a solid sphere in 3-dimensional Euclidean space, we get the space-filling diagram of a molecule by taking the union. Molecular dynamics simulates its motion subject to bonds and other forces, including the solvation free energy. The morphometric approach [12, 17] writes the latter as a linear combination of weighted versions of the volume, area, mean curvature, and Gaussian curvature of the space-filling diagram. We give a formula for the derivative of the weighted mean curvature. Together with the derivatives of the weighted volume in [7], the weighted area in [3], and the weighted Gaussian curvature [1], this yields the derivative of the morphometric expression of the solvation free energy.}, author = {Akopyan, Arseniy and Edelsbrunner, Herbert}, issn = {2544-7297}, journal = {Computational and Mathematical Biophysics}, number = {1}, pages = {51--67}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, title = {{The weighted mean curvature derivative of a space-filling diagram}}, doi = {10.1515/cmb-2020-0100}, volume = {8}, year = {2020}, } @article{9162, abstract = {Active navigation relies on effectively extracting information from the surrounding environment, and often features the tracking of gradients of a relevant signal—such as the concentration of molecules. Microfluidic networks of closed pathways pose the challenge of determining the shortest exit pathway, which involves the proper local decision-making at each bifurcating junction. Here, we focus on the basic decision faced at a T-junction by a microscopic particle, which orients among possible paths via its sensing of a diffusible substance's concentration. We study experimentally the navigation of colloidal particles following concentration gradients by diffusiophoresis. We treat the situation as a mean first passage time (MFPT) problem that unveils the important role of a separatrix in the concentration field to determine the statistics of path taking. Further, we use numerical experiments to study different strategies, including biomimetic ones such as run and tumble or Markovian chemotactic migration. The discontinuity in the MFPT at the junction makes it remarkably difficult for microscopic agents to follow the shortest path, irrespective of adopted navigation strategy. In contrast, increasing the size of the sensing agents improves the efficiency of short-path taking by harvesting information on a larger scale. It inspires the development of a run-and-whirl dynamics that takes advantage of the mathematical properties of harmonic functions to emulate particles beyond their own size.}, author = {Gandhi, Tanvi and Mac Huang, Jinzi and Aubret, Antoine and Li, Yaocheng and Ramananarivo, Sophie and Vergassola, Massimo and Palacci, Jérémie A}, issn = {2469-990X}, journal = {Physical Review Fluids}, number = {10}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Decision-making at a T-junction by gradient-sensing microscopic agents}}, doi = {10.1103/physrevfluids.5.104202}, volume = {5}, year = {2020}, } @article{9164, author = {Speck, Thomas and Tailleur, Julien and Palacci, Jérémie A}, issn = {1367-2630}, journal = {New Journal of Physics}, keywords = {General Physics and Astronomy}, number = {6}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Focus on active colloids and nanoparticles}}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/ab90d9}, volume = {22}, year = {2020}, } @article{9194, abstract = {Quantum transduction, the process of converting quantum signals from one form of energy to another, is an important area of quantum science and technology. The present perspective article reviews quantum transduction between microwave and optical photons, an area that has recently seen a lot of activity and progress because of its relevance for connecting superconducting quantum processors over long distances, among other applications. Our review covers the leading approaches to achieving such transduction, with an emphasis on those based on atomic ensembles, opto-electro-mechanics, and electro-optics. We briefly discuss relevant metrics from the point of view of different applications, as well as challenges for the future.}, author = {Lauk, Nikolai and Sinclair, Neil and Barzanjeh, Shabir and Covey, Jacob P and Saffman, Mark and Spiropulu, Maria and Simon, Christoph}, issn = {2058-9565}, journal = {Quantum Science and Technology}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Perspectives on quantum transduction}}, doi = {10.1088/2058-9565/ab788a}, volume = {5}, year = {2020}, } @article{9195, abstract = {Quantum information technology based on solid state qubits has created much interest in converting quantum states from the microwave to the optical domain. Optical photons, unlike microwave photons, can be transmitted by fiber, making them suitable for long distance quantum communication. Moreover, the optical domain offers access to a large set of very well‐developed quantum optical tools, such as highly efficient single‐photon detectors and long‐lived quantum memories. For a high fidelity microwave to optical transducer, efficient conversion at single photon level and low added noise is needed. Currently, the most promising approaches to build such systems are based on second‐order nonlinear phenomena such as optomechanical and electro‐optic interactions. Alternative approaches, although not yet as efficient, include magneto‐optical coupling and schemes based on isolated quantum systems like atoms, ions, or quantum dots. Herein, the necessary theoretical foundations for the most important microwave‐to‐optical conversion experiments are provided, their implementations are described, and the current limitations and future prospects are discussed.}, author = {Lambert, Nicholas J. and Rueda Sanchez, Alfredo R and Sedlmeir, Florian and Schwefel, Harald G. L.}, issn = {2511-9044}, journal = {Advanced Quantum Technologies}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Coherent conversion between microwave and optical photons - An overview of physical implementations}}, doi = {10.1002/qute.201900077}, volume = {3}, year = {2020}, }