Time crystals may hold secret to coherence in quantum computing

An Aalto University study has provided new evidence that time crystals can physically exist – a claim currently under hot debate.

A time crystal is a structure that does not repeat in space, like normal three-dimensional crystals such as snowflakes or diamonds, but in time. In practice this means that crystals constantly undergo spontaneous change, breaking the symmetry of time by achieving a self-sustaining oscillation.

The value is in the time crystal's coherency, a property that allows temporal and spatial consistency, amounting to longevity otherwise not possible.

"Nature has given us a system that wants to be coherent over time," says Senior Scientist Vladimir Eltsov, leader of the ROTA research group at Aalto University.

"The system spontaneously begins to evolve in time coherently, over long periods of time, even infinitely long," he says.