Time crystals are systems made up of particles that repeat a steady back-and-forth motion, often described as “ticking.” They were first proposed theoretically and then confirmed experimentally roughly ten years ago. Although no commercial or industrial uses exist yet, researchers see strong potential for applications such as quantum computing and advanced data storage.
Since their discovery, scientists have created and studied multiple forms of time crystals. Each version behaves differently, opening up various possible future uses.
Now, physicists at New York University have observed a previously unknown type of time crystal in which particles float on sound and interact by sending sound waves back and forth. These interactions violate Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, meaning forces normally come in matched pairs (i.e., equal in magnitude and opposite in direction). In the NYU system, however, the particles, described as beads, influence one another unevenly rather than symmetrically, resulting in what scientists call nonreciprocal motion.\
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