Scientists create a "time crystal" using giant atoms, a concept long thought to be impossible

 

In 2012, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek asked whether the symmetry that arranges atoms in an ordinary crystal might also break in time, producing a structure that beats forever at its own pace.

More than a decade later, researchers at Tsinghua University, working with theorists from Vienna University of Technology, have watched rubidium vapor settle into just such a rhythm and report their findings.

Prof Thomas Pohl of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at TU Wien, a co‑author of the new paper, says the result brings Wilczek’s vision “very close to reality.”

How a time crystals differ
A time crystal repeats itself in time rather than in space, breaking the uniformity of the clock the way a snowflake breaks the uniformity of a lake.

The persistence of this rhythm, called spontaneous symmetry breaking, means the pattern survives even when no one is forcing it.

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Physicists Bend Time Inside a Diamond, Creating a Brand-New Phase of Matter

Physicists at Washington University have forged ahead in the field of quantum mechanics by creating a new phase of matter known as “time crystals” and the even more advanced “time quasicrystals.”


These groundbreaking materials defy traditional physics by maintaining perpetual motion and could revolutionize quantum computing and precision timekeeping by providing a stable, energy-conserving method of measuring time and storing quantum information.

Time Crystals
Physicists at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) have created a new kind of time crystal, a unique phase of matter that challenges conventional understanding of motion and time.

The research team includes Kater Murch, the Charles M. Hohenberg Professor of Physics, and Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics, along with graduate students Guanghui He, Ruotian “Reginald” Gong, Changyu Yao, and Zhongyuan Liu. Additional collaborators include Bingtian Ye from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Norman Yao from Harvard University. Their findings were published on March 12 in Physical Review X, a leading journal in the field.

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