Observation of a Dissipative Time Crystal

2020/12/31 by Hans Keßler, Phatthamon Kongkhambut, Christoph Georges +3 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Dissipative system #Physics #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #cond-mat.quant-gas

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.127.043602

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 043602 (2021)

openalex publication_date 2021/07/19 · arxiv created 2021/07/26 · arxiv updated 2021/07/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We present the first experimental realization of a time crystal stabilized by dissipation. The central signature in our implementation in a driven open atom-cavity system is a period doubled switching between distinct checkerboard density wave patterns, induced by the interplay between controlled cavity dissipation, cavity-mediated interactions, and external driving. We demonstrate the robustness of this dynamical phase against system parameter changes and temporal perturbations of the driving.

Citations

• Quantum fluids of light
• Cold atoms in cavity-generated dynamical optical potentials
• Exploring Symmetry Breaking at the Dicke Quantum Phase Transition
• Self-organization of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical cavity
• Dynamical phase transition in the open Dicke model
• On the phase structure of driven quantum systems
• Time crystals: a review
• Time crystals in a shaken atom-cavity system

Cited by

• Nonreciprocal wave-mediated interactions power a classical time crystal
• Stroboscopic aliasing in long-range interacting quantum systems
• Liouvillian Spectral Transition in Noisy Quantum Many-Body Scars