Time Crystals: “Back to Basics” Approach Helps Unravel New Phase of Matter TOPICS:Condensed Matter

 International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics 

 A new phase of matter, thought to be understandable only using quantum physics, can be studied with far simpler classical methods.


Researchers from the University of Cambridge used computer modeling to study potential new phases of matter known as prethermal discrete time crystals (DTCs). It was thought that the properties of prethermal DTCs were reliant on quantum physics: the strange laws ruling particles at the subatomic scale. However, the researchers found that a simpler approach, based on classical physics, can be used to understand these mysterious phenomena.


Understanding these new phases of matter is a step forward towards the control of complex many-body systems, a long-standing goal with various potential applications, such as simulations of complex quantum networks. The results are reported in two joint papers in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review B.


When we discover something new, whether it’s a planet, an animal, or a disease, we can learn more about it by looking at it more and more closely. Simpler theories are tried first, and if they don’t work, more complicated theories or methods are attempted.


This was what we thought was the case with prethermal DTCs,” said Andrea Pizzi, a PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, first author on both papers. “We thought they were fundamentally quantum phenomena, but it turns out a simpler classical approach let us learn more about them.”


DTCs are highly complex physical systems, and there is still much to learn about their unusual properties. Like how a standard space crystal breaks space-translational symmetry because its structure isn’t the same everywhere in space, DTCs break a distinct time-translational symmetry because, when ‘shaken’ periodically, their structure changes at every ‘push’.


You can think of it like a parent pushing a child on a swing on a playground,” said Pizzi. “Normally, the parent pushes the child, the child will swing back, and the parent then pushes them again. In physics, this is a rather simple system. But if multiple swings were on that same playground, and if children on them were holding hands with one another, then the system would become much more complex, and far more interesting and less obvious behaviors could emerge. A prethermal DTC is one such behavior, in which the atoms, acting sort of like swings, only ‘come back’ every second or third push, for example.”







#TimeCrystals #PhaseOfMatter #Physics #FrankWilczek #Thermodynamics #CoupledPendulums #RepeatingPattern #NonEquilibriumSystem #EmergingPhenomena #QuantumComputing #PreciseClocks #BasicResearch #Science #Discoveries #ResearchMethodology




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From black holes to sands: Application of holographic duality to granular matter

Image
  International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics  Researchers from the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CA S) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) have found that granular matter (such as sand) and some black hole models display similar nonlinear effects. The bridge between the two is the holographic duality. Holographic duality allows one to map unsolved physical problems to tractable higher-dimensional gravitational counterparts and vice versa. The mapping between different dimensions resembles the optical holographic projection technique, hence the name. Although the holographic duality originated from string theory and was part of the quest for a consistent theory of quantum gravity, it has also been widely applied to quantum chromodynamics, condensed matter physics, and quantum information. In this work, the idea of holographic duality is extended to a concrete type of athermal, disordered solids—granular materials. Sinc...
Read more

Time Crystals: A New Form of Matter That Could Change Everything

Image
Of all the science-fiction-sounding names that have come to fruition in recent years, perhaps none is as mysterious or seemingly fictitious as time crystals. The name evokes something between Back to the Future and Donnie Darko, and the reality is perhaps crazier than either. Two separate groups of scientists recently reported they observed time crystals, which lends credence to the idea that this theoretical state of matter is something humans can actually create and observe. And indeed, time crystals can be grown in a child’s bedroom. But, it requires nuclear sensors and lasers to help time crystals reach their full potential and then measure and observe them. This combination of dramatic scientific terms and shockingly simple objects is a great analogy for time crystals as a whole. Read on to understand what they are and how they might affect our lives.   What Are Time Crystals? Time crystals are systems of atoms that arrange themselves in time the way more traditional solids cr...
Read more

Viable superconducting material created at low temperature and low pressure

Image
International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics In a historic achievement, University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications. "With this material, the dawn of ambient superconductivity and applied technologies has arrived," according to a team led by Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics. In a paper in Nature, the researchers describe a nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (NDLH) that exhibits superconductivity at 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20.5 degrees Celsius) and 10 kilobars (145,000 pounds per square inch, or psi) of pressure. Although 145,000 psi might still seem extraordinarily high (pressure at sea level is about 15 psi), strain engineering techniques routinely used in chip manufacturing, for example, incorporate materials held together by internal chemical pressures that are even higher. Scientists have been pursuing this breakthrough in c...
Read more