Abstract
Despite being forbidden in equilibrium, spontaneous breaking of time translation symmetry can occur in periodically driven, Floquet systems with discrete time-translation symmetry. The period of the resulting discrete time crystal is quantized to an integer multiple of the drive period, arising from a combination of collective synchronization and many body localization. Here, we consider a simple model for a one-dimensional discrete time crystal which explicitly reveals the rigidity of the emergent oscillations as the drive is varied. We numerically map out its phase diagram and compute the properties of the dynamical phase transition where the time crystal melts into a trivial Floquet insulator. Moreover, we demonstrate that the model can be realized with current experimental technologies and propose a blueprint based upon a one dimensional chain of trapped ions. Using experimental parameters (featuring long-range interactions), we identify the phase boundaries of the ion-time-crystal and propose a measurable signature of the symmetry breaking phase transition.
- Received 5 November 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.030401
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Erratum
Erratum: Discrete Time Crystals: Rigidity, Criticality, and Realizations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 030401 (2017)]
N. Y. Yao, A. C. Potter, I.-D. Potirniche, and A. Vishwanath
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 269901 (2017)
Viewpoint
How to Create a Time Crystal
Published 18 January 2017
A detailed theoretical recipe for making time crystals has been unveiled and swiftly implemented by two groups using vastly different experimental systems.
See more in Physics