Distributed ledger for physical material

A computer-readable medium encoding a computer program operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• obtaining a first set of information regarding a physical material to be verified, the first set of information comprising hundreds of values for channels of a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the physical material in response to an irradiation of the physical material, the hundreds of values representing physical characteristics of the physical material to be verified;
• obtaining a second set of information regarding the physical material to be verified;
• sending the first and second sets of information over a communication network to a verification computer system;
• receiving verification information from the verification computer system, the verification information comprising a digital signature by the verification computer system of at least information usable to identify the first set of information;
• initiating addition of the information usable to identify the first set of information and the digital signature to a distributed digital ledger;
• receiving confirmation of the addition of the information usable to identify the first set of information and the digital signature to the distributed digital ledger;
• and
• reporting that the physical material has been verified responsive to receipt of the confirmation.

A system comprising:

• a user interface device;
• and
• one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to
• obtain a first set of information regarding a physical material to be verified, the first set of information comprising hundreds of values for channels of a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the physical material in response to an irradiation of the physical material, the hundreds of values representing physical characteristics of the physical material to be verified;
• obtain a second set of information regarding the physical material to be verified;
• send the first and second sets of information over a communication network to a verification computer system;
• receive verification information from the verification computer system, the verification information comprising a digital signature by the verification computer system of at least information usable to identify the first set of information;
• initiate addition of the information usable to identify the first set of information and the digital signature to a distributed digital ledger;
• receive confirmation of the addition of the information usable to identify the first set of information and the digital signature to the distributed digital ledger;
• and
• report that the physical material has been verified responsive to receipt of the confirmation.