2019/03/06 by Toni L. Heugel, Matthias Oscity, Alexander Eichler +2 · 93 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Bifurcation #Bifurcation theory #Classical mechanics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry) #Geometry #Mathematics #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Nonlinear system #Optics #Physics #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Resonator #Simple (philosophy) #Statistical physics #Symmetry (geometry) #Symmetry breaking #Theoretical physics #Translation (biology) #Translational symmetry #Work (physics) #cond-mat.mes-hall #nlin.AO #physics.class-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.123.124301
published in Physical Review Letters 123(12), 124301 (American Physical Society) · 23 pages, 5 figures, comments are welcome
arxiv created 2019/03/06 · openalex publication_date 2019/09/19 · arxiv updated 2019/09/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Discrete time crystals are a many-body state of matter where the extensive system's dynamics are slower than the forces acting on it. Nowadays, there is a growing debate regarding the specific properties required to demonstrate such a many-body state, alongside several experimental realizations. In this work, we provide a simple and pedagogical framework by which to obtain many-body time crystals using parametrically coupled resonators. In our analysis, we use classical period-doubling bifurcation theory and present a clear distinction between single-mode time-translation symmetry breaking and a situation where an extensive number of degrees of freedom undergo the transition. We experimentally demonstrate this paradigm using coupled mechanical oscillators, thus providing a clear route for time crystal realizations in real materials.