2019/07/31 by Marta P. Estarellas, M. P. Estarellas, Tomo Osada +10
Chemistry · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Artificial intelligence #Chemistry #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Complex system #Computer science #Condensed matter physics #Geometry #Graph #Mathematics #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Physics #Quantum #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Statistical physics #Symmetry (geometry) #Theoretical computer science #Theoretical physics #Time evolution #Translation (biology) #Translational symmetry #cond-mat.dis-nn #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay8892
published as Science Advances, Vol. 6, no. 42, eaay8892 (2020) · 17 pages, 8 figures
openalex publication_date 2020/10/16 · arxiv created 2020/11/12 · arxiv updated 2020/11/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Crystals arise as the result of the breaking of a spatial translation symmetry. Similarly, translation symmetries can also be broken in time so that discrete time crystals appear. Here, we introduce a method to describe, characterize, and explore the physical phenomena related to this phase of matter using tools from graph theory. The analysis of the graphs allows to visualizing time-crystalline order and to analyze features of the quantum system. For example, we explore in detail the melting process of a minimal model of a period-2 discrete time crystal and describe it in terms of the evolution of the associated graph structure. We show that during the melting process, the network evolution exhibits an emergent preferential attachment mechanism, directly associated with the existence of scale-free networks. Thus, our strategy allows us to propose a previously unexplored far-reaching application of time crystals as a quantum simulator of complex quantum networks.