Classical discrete time crystals
By Norman Y. Yao, C. Nayak, L. Balents, M. Zaletel. Nature Physics, 2018
142 citations recorded by the source corpus.
The spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry in periodically driven quantum systems leads to a new phase of matter: the discrete time crystal (DTC). This phase exhibits collective subharmonic oscillations that depend upon an interplay of non-equilibrium driving, many-body interactions and the breakdown of ergodicity. However, subharmonic responses are also a well-known feature of classical dynamical systems ranging from predator–prey models to Faraday waves and a.c.-driven charge density waves. This raises the question of whether these classical phenomena display the same rigidity characteristic of a quantum DTC. In this work, we explore this question in the context of periodically driven Hamiltonian dynamics coupled to a finite-temperature bath, which provides both friction and, crucially, noise. Focusing on one-dimensional chains, where in equilibrium any transition would be forbidden at finite temperature, we provide evidence that the combination of noise and interactions drives a sharp, first-order dynamical phase transition between a discrete time-translation invariant phase and an activated classical discrete time crystal (CDTC) in which time-translation symmetry is broken out to exponentially long timescales. Power-law correlations are present along a first-order line, which terminates at a critical point. We analyse the transition by mapping it to the locked-to-sliding transition of a d.c.-driven charge density wave. Finally, building upon results from the field of probabilistic cellular automata, we conjecture the existence of classical time crystals with true long-range order, where time-translation symmetry is broken out to infinite times. The phenomenon of many-body localization gives rise to entirely new phases of quantum matter when it is driven away from equilibrium. A numerical study now shows that one of these phases—the discrete time crystal—can also occur in a classical spin chain.
Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Computer Networks and Communications, Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e6472720f00454762707d607b6a5f8bbcd431b66
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In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
In Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Citations in the corpus
- Photonics of time-varying media (2021, background): “On yet another front of exploration, time-crystals have been proposed in condensed matter theory for almost a decade as a stable state of matter capable of spontaneously breaking continuous timetranslation symmetry while preserving long-range temporal order;(4) their very existence has been question”