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Floquet Phases of Matter via Classical Prethermalization

Bingtian Ye, Francisco Machado, and Norman Y. Yao
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 140603 – Published 27 September 2021
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Abstract

We demonstrate that the prethermal regime of periodically driven (Floquet), classical many-body systems can host nonequilibrium phases of matter. In particular, we show that there exists an effective Hamiltonian that captures the dynamics of ensembles of classical trajectories despite the breakdown of this description at the single trajectory level. In addition, we prove that the effective Hamiltonian can host emergent symmetries protected by the discrete time-translation symmetry of the drive. The spontaneous breaking of such an emergent symmetry leads to a subharmonic response, characteristic of time crystalline order, that survives to exponentially late times in the frequency of the drive. To this end, we numerically demonstrate the existence of classical prethermal time crystals in systems with different dimensionalities and ranges of interaction. Extensions to higher order and fractional time crystals are also discussed.

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  • Received 12 May 2021
  • Accepted 26 August 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.140603

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsAtomic, Molecular & OpticalNonlinear Dynamics

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A Classical View of Quantum Time Crystals

Published 27 September 2021

Numerical studies indicate that certain types of time crystals might be described using classical physics—a result that could vastly simplify the theoretical description of these systems.

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Authors & Affiliations

Bingtian Ye1, Francisco Machado1,2, and Norman Y. Yao1,2

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

See Also

Classical approaches to prethermal discrete time crystals in one, two, and three dimensions

Andrea Pizzi, Andreas Nunnenkamp, and Johannes Knolle
Phys. Rev. B 104, 094308 (2021)

Classical Prethermal Phases of Matter

Andrea Pizzi, Andreas Nunnenkamp, and Johannes Knolle
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 140602 (2021)

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Issue

Vol. 127, Iss. 14 — 1 October 2021

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