IBM Scientists Observe Elusive Gravitational Effect in Solid-State Physics

An international team of physicists, materials scientists and string theoreticians have observed a phenomenon on Earth that was previously thought to only occur hundreds of light years away or at the time when the universe was born. This result could lead to a more evidence-based model for the understanding the universe and for improving the energy-conversion process in electronic devices.

Using a recently discovered material called a Weyl semimetal, similar to 3D graphene, scientists at IBM Research have mimicked a gravitational field in their test sample by imposing a temperature gradient. The study was supervised by Prof. Kornelius Nielsch, Director at the Leibniz Institute for Materials and Solid State Research Dresden (IFW) and Prof. Claudia Felser, Director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden.

After conducting the experiment in a cryolab at the University of Hamburg with high magnetic fields, a team of theoreticians from TU Dresden, UC Berkeley and the Instituto de Fisica Teorica UAM/CSIC   confirmed with detailed calculations that they observed a quantum effect known as an axial-gravitational anomaly, which breaks one of the classical conservation laws, such as charge, energy and momentum.

This law-breaking anomaly had previously been derived in purely theoretical reasoning with methods based on string theory. It was believed to exist only at extremely high temperatures of trillions of degrees, as an exotic form of matter, called a quark-gluon plasma, at the early stages of the universe deep within the cosmos or created using particle colliders.

But to their surprise, the researchers discovered that it also exists on Earth in the properties of solid-state physics, on which much of the computing industry is based on, spanning from tiny transistors to cloud data centers. This discovery is appearing today in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

“For the first time, we have experimentally observed this fundamental quantum anomaly on Earth which is extremely important towards our understanding of the universe,” said Dr. Johannes Gooth, an IBM Research scientist and lead author of the paper. “We can now build novel solid-state devices based on this anomaly that have never been considered before to potentially circumvent some of the problems inherent in classical electronic devices, such as transistors.”

“This is an incredibly exciting discovery. We can clearly conclude that the same breaking of symmetry can be observed in any physical system, whether it occurred at the beginning of the universe or is happening today, right here on Earth,” said Prof. Dr. Karl Landsteiner, a string theorist at the Instituto de Fisica Teorica UAM/CSIC and co-author of the paper.

IBM scientists predict this discovery will open up a rush of new developments around sensors, switches and thermoelectric coolers or energy-harvesting devices, for improved power consumption.

Read more at: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2017/07/scientists-observe-gravitational-anomaly-on-earth/

London Stock Exchange Group Collaborating with IBM on Blockchain Solution

Borsa Italiana, part of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and IBM today announced they are building a blockchain solution to digitize the issuance of securities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

Designed to simplify the tracking and management of shareholding information, the new system intends to create a distributed shared registry containing a record of all shareholder transactions, helping to open up new opportunities for trading and investing. 

“Through our work with IBM on this blockchain solution, Borsa Italiana is taking the lead in transforming the way European SMEs can manage their shareholder data and at the same time expand credit access – all on a trusted digital platform,” said Raffaele Jerusalmi, CEO, Borsa Italiana.

The blockchain solution for unlisted SMEs in Europe is designed to replace the paper trading certificates that are commonly issued to private companies today.

With a more digitized, streamlined and transparent process enabled by the blockchain solution, various parties – including issuers, regulators and investors – will have increased insight into company information.

Traditionally, private SMEs lack access to public stock exchange networks or formalized credit structures. With this solution, SMEs in Europe can better access credit and link into a broader and more mature investor ecosystem, enabling them to set up new trading networks and obtain funding by sharing financial data in a security-rich and transparent public arena.

By implementing the blockchain solution, Borsa Italiana is taking the lead in transforming how private companies can exchange and bring transparency around shareholder data and expand credit access.

Built on Hyperledger Fabric version 1.0, a blockchain framework and and one of the Hyperledger projects hosted by The Linux Foundation, the system is designed to help ensure that highly sensitive securities data can be shared amongst permissioned network participants while remaining secure and gated.

This blockchain solution, developed in collaboration with IBM, is built on highly secure infrastructure technology that provides the highest levels of encryption commercially available. The solution is also built to achieve interoperability with LSEG’s existing systems, promoting efficiency and business continuity.

You can learn more about IBM Blockchain solutions here.