Nature follows many rhythms: the Earth’s orbit around the sun brings about the seasons, and the swing of a pendulum keeps a clock ticking. These patterns can often be described with simple mathematical equations.
But rhythms can also appear in a very different way—spontaneously, without any external driver—arising from the intricate interplay of many particles. Out of what might seem like uniform disorder, a repeating pattern in time emerges. This phenomenon is called a “time crystal.”
Researchers at TU Wien (Vienna) have now shown that time crystals can form through a mechanism not previously considered. Quantum correlations between particles, once thought to hinder their formation, can actually help stabilize these structures. This offers a surprising perspective on the physics of many-particle quantum systems.
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