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ETH physicists have developed a silicon wafer that behaves like a topological insulator when stimulated using ultrasound. They have thereby succeeded in turning an abstract theoretical concept into a macroscopic product.

Five ETH researchers receive one of the coveted Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC), among them physicist Sebastian Huber. Their projects are funded with around two million Swiss francs each.  

Theoretical physicists from ETH Zurich deliberately misled intelligent machines, and thus refined the process of machine learning. They created a new method that allows computers to categorise data – even when humans have no idea what this categorisation might look like.

In the current issue of the journal Nature Physics, ETH physicists Oded Zilberberg and Sebastian Huber describe unexpected connections between physics and the mathematical field of topology. With their pieces they provide intriguing outlooks on two aspects of ‘topological matter’ — a field of great current interest, and one to which physicists at ETH Zurich have contributed substantially over the years.

Sebastian Huber and his colleagues show that the road from abstract theory to practical applications needn’t always be very long. Their mechanical implementation of a quantum mechanical phenomenon could soon be used for soundproofing purposes.