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Classical stochastic discrete time crystals

F. M. Gambetta, F. Carollo, A. Lazarides, I. Lesanovsky, and J. P. Garrahan
Phys. Rev. E 100, 060105(R) – Published 24 December 2019

Abstract

We describe a general and simple paradigm for discrete time crystals (DTCs), systems with a stable subharmonic response to an external driving field, in a classical thermal setting. We consider, specifically, an Ising model in two dimensions, as a prototypical system with a phase transition into stable phases distinguished by a local order parameter, driven by thermal dynamics and periodically kicked with a noisy protocol. By means of extensive numerical simulations for large sizes—allowed by the classical nature of our model—we show that the system features a true disorder-DTC order phase transition as a function of the noise strength, with a robust DTC phase extending over a wide parameter range. We demonstrate that, when the dynamics is observed stroboscopically, the phase transition to the DTC state appears to be in the equilibrium two-dimensional Ising universality class. However, we explicitly show that the DTC is a genuine nonequilibrium state. More generally, we speculate that systems with thermal phase transitions to multiple competing phases can give rise to DTCs when appropriately driven.

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  • Received 19 June 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.100.060105

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

F. M. Gambetta1, F. Carollo1, A. Lazarides2, I. Lesanovsky1,3, and J. P. Garrahan1

  • 1School of Physics and Astronomy and Centre for the Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Quantum Non-Equilibrium Systems, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
  • 2Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Department of Mathematical Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
  • 3Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 6 — December 2019

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