Theoretical new electrical elements
Engineers have long worked with a trio of 'ideal elements' for classic electronic circuit design – resistor, inductor and capacitor – each having fixed properties. Yet, modern nanoelectronics also includes components with variable properties, which need documenting. The EU-funded DISCOVERTABLE (Re-discovering a periodic table of elementary circuit elements) project intended to devise tables of non-ideal components. Project members claim such tables would be equivalent to the periodic table of chemical elements. Such a reference tool would enable categorisation of existing circuit elements and prediction of the properties of new components. The team proposed a principle of supersymmetry in circuit theory whereby each circuit element supposedly partners symmetrically with another. Members found their theory to be mathematically 'beautiful' and potentially useful. Work yielded prediction of a new electronic element: the negative memristor. The group investigated the hypothetical component's probable features and potential applications. The work of DISCOVERTABLE may lead to new applications in electronics and computing.