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arXiv:1805.05718 · Physical Review A

Time crystals: Analysis of experimental conditions

Krzysztof Giergiel, Arkadiusz Kosior, Peter Hannaford, Krzysztof Sacha

Published Jul 12, 2018• 71 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Time crystals are quantum many-body systems which are able to self-organize their motion in a periodic way in time. Discrete time crystals have been experimentally demonstrated in spin systems. However, the first idea of spontaneous breaking of discrete time translation symmetry, in ultracold atoms bouncing on an oscillating mirror, still awaits experimental demonstration. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of the experimental conditions needed for the realization of such a discrete time crystal. Importantly, the considered system allows for the realization of dramatic breaking of discrete time translation symmetry where a symmetry broken state evolves with a period tens of times longer than the driving period. Moreover, atoms bouncing on an oscillating mirror constitute a suitable system for the realization of dynamical quantum phase transitions in discrete time crystals and for the demonstration of various nontrivial condensed-matter phenomena in the time domain. We show that Anderson localization effects, which are typically associated with spatial disorder and exponential localization of eigenstates of a particle in configuration space, can be observed in the time domain when ultracold atoms are bouncing on a randomly moving mirror.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.98.013613

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Time crystals are quantum many-body systems which are able to self-organize their motion in a periodic way in time. Discrete time crystals have been experimentally demonstrated in spin systems. However, the first idea of spontaneous breaking of discrete time translation symmetry, in ultracold atoms bouncing on an oscillating mirror, still awaits experimental demonstration. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of the experimental conditions needed for the realization of such a discrete time crystal. Importantly, the considered system allows for the realization of dramatic breaking of discrete time translation symmetry where a symmetry broken state evolves with a period tens of times longer than the driving period. Moreover, atoms bouncing on an oscillating mirror constitute a suitable system for the realization of dynamical quantum phase transitions in discrete time crystals and for the demonstration of various nontrivial condensed-matter phenomena in the time domain. We show that Anderson localization effects, which are typically associated with spatial disorder and exponential localization of eigenstates of a particle in configuration space, can be observed in the time domain when ultracold atoms are bouncing on a randomly moving mirror.
Abstract We review the application of discrete time crystals created in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ultracold atoms bouncing resonantly on an oscillating atom mirror to the investigation of condensed matter phenomena in the time dimension. Such a bouncing BEC system can exhibit dramatic breaking of time-translation symmetry, allowing the creation of discrete time crystals having up to about 100 temporal lattice sites and suitable for hosting a broad range of temporal condensed matter phenomena. We first consider single-particle condensed matter phenomena in the time dimension which include Anderson localization due to temporal disorder, topological time crystals, and quasi-crystal structures in time. We then discuss many-body temporal condensed matter phenomena including Mott insulator phases in time, many-body localization in time, many-body topological time crystals and time crystals having long-range exotic interactions. We also discuss the construction of two (or three) dimensional time lattices, involving the bouncing of a BEC between two (or three) orthogonal oscillating mirrors and between two oscillating mirrors oriented at 45∘. The latter configuration supports a versatile Möbius strip geometry which can host a variety of two-dimensional time lattices including a honeycomb time lattice and a Lieb square time lattice. Finally, we discuss the construction of a six-dimensional time-space lattice based on periodically driven BECs trapped in a three-dimensional optical lattice.
Time crystals are quantum systems that are able to reveal condensed matter behavior in the time domain. It is known that crystallization in time can be observed in a periodically driven many-body system when interactions between particles force a system to evolve with a period that is an integer multiple of a driving period. This phenomenon is dubbed discrete time crystal formation. Here, we consider ultracold atoms bouncing on an oscillating atom mirror and show that the system can spontaneously form a discrete time crystal where the ratio of a period of its motion and a driving period is a rational number. This kind of discrete time crystal requires higher-order resonant driving, which is analyzed here with the help of an original approach.
We show that an ultracold atomic cloud bouncing on an oscillating mirror can reveal spontaneous breaking of a discrete time-translation symmetry. In many-body simulations, we illustrate the process of the symmetry breaking that can be induced by atomic losses or by a measurement of particle positions. The results pave the way for understanding and realization of the time crystal idea where crystalline structures form in the time domain due to spontaneous breaking of continuous time-translation symmetry.
We report progress towards realizing discrete time crystals using a BEC of potassium-39 atoms bouncing on an oscillating mirror. In the absence of interactions, each bouncing atom performs classical motion in which there are resonant islands in phase space located around periodic orbits whose periods match an integral multiple s of the driving period T of the mirror. If all the atoms are prepared in a single wave-packet, in the absence of interactions they tunnel to neighbouring wave-packets on a timescale determined by the driving amplitude and period of the oscillating mirror. In the presence of a sufficiently strong attractive interaction, the Floquet eigenstates of the periodic system become Schrödinger cat-like states, so that measurement of the position of just a single atom is sufficient to break the timetranslation symmetry and cause the system to collapse into one of the s wave-packets bouncing with period sT. Such a system allows dramatic breaking of discrete time translation symmetry where the symmetry-broken state evolves with a period typically s=40 times longer than the driving period and does not decay. This system provides also a suitable platform for demonstrating a wide range of condensed matter phenomena in the time domain.
The study of phases is useful for understanding novel states of matter. One such state of matter is time crystals which constitute periodically driven interacting many-body systems that spontaneously break time translation symmetry. Time crystals with arbitrary periods (and dimensions) can be realized using the model of Bose-Einstein condensates bouncing on periodically driven mirror(s). In this work, we identify the different phases that characterize the two-dimensional time crystal. By determining the optimal initial conditions and value of system parameters, we provide a practical route to realize a specific phase of the time crystal. These different phases can be mapped to the many-body states existing on a two-dimensional Hubbard lattice model, thereby opening up interesting opportunities for quantum simulation of many-body physics in time lattices.
Time crystals are quantum many-body systems that, due to interactions between particles, are able to spontaneously self-organize their motion in a periodic way in time by analogy with the formation of crystalline structures in space in condensed matter physics. In solid state physics properties of space crystals are often investigated with the help of external potentials that are spatially periodic and reflect various crystalline structures. A similar approach can be applied for time crystals, as periodically driven systems constitute counterparts of spatially periodic systems, but in the time domain. Here we show that condensed matter problems ranging from single particles in potentials of quasicrystal structure to many-body systems with exotic long-range interactions can be realized in the time domain with an appropriate periodic driving. Moreover, it is possible to create molecules where atoms are bound together due to destructive interference if the atomic scattering length is modulated in time.