Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1902.07520

Thermodynamic Quantum Time Crystals

K. B. Efetov

Published Feb 20, 2019• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Investigation of states with a periodic time dependence of physical quantities attracts a considerable interest now. Although it has been proposed initially that such states (coined Quantum Time Crystals) might be macroscopic and thermodynamically stable, results of a more careful study of the problem seemed to indicate that quantum time crystals could be realized only in systems out of equilibrium. Here we show that, in contrast to the general belief, thermodynamically stable macroscopic quantum time crystals can exist. The order parameter of this new state of matter is periodic in both real and imaginary time but its average over the phase of the oscillations equals zero. At the same time, correlation functions characterizing physical quantities oscillate periodically in time without any decay. An alternative interpretation of the results is based on a concept of an operator order parameter. Calculations are performed for a rather general microscopic model that may in particular be suitable for describing the pseudogap state in superconducting cuprates.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1902.07520

Related papers

Mean-field thermodynamic quantum time-space crystal: Spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry in a macroscopic fermion system

K. B. Efetov

A model demonstrating the existence of a thermodynamically stable quantum time-space crystal has been proposed and studied. This state is characterized by an order parameter periodic in both real and imaginary times. The average of the order parameter over phases of the oscillations vanishes but correlation functions of two or more order parameters show nondecaying oscillations. An alternative interpretation of the results is based on the concept of an operator order parameter introduced for this purpose. The model studied here has been suggested previously, in particular, for describing the pseudogap state in superconducting cuprates. Although many properties of the time-space crystal considered here are close to those of a well known DDW state, static magnetic moments oscillating at $(\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi})$ do not exist. Instead, $\ensuremath{\delta}$ peaks at finite energies are predicted in the cross-section of inelastic spin-polarized neutron scattering.

arXiv:1905.04128•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Dec 17, 2019•8 citations

Imaginary Time Crystal of Thermal Quantum Matter*

Zi Cai, Yizhen Huang, W. Vincent Liu

Temperature is a fundamental thermodynamic variable for matter. Physical observables are often found to either increase or decrease with it, or show a non-monotonic dependence with peaks signaling underlying phase transitions or anomalies. Statistical field theory has established connection between temperature and time: a quantum ensemble with inverse temperature β is formally equivalent to a dynamic system evolving along an imaginary time from 0 to iβ in the space one dimension higher. Here we report that a gas of hard-core bosons interacting with a thermal bath manifests an unexpected temperature-periodic oscillation of its macroscopic observables, arising from the microscopic origin of space-time locked translational symmetry breaking and crystalline ordering. Such a temperature crystal, supported by quantum Monte Carlo simulation, generalizes the concept of purely spatial density-wave order to the imaginary time axis for Euclidean action.

arXiv:1902.09747•Chinese Physics Letters•May 1, 2020•17 citations

Slowly decaying real-time oscillations in instanton crystals

Grigory A. Starkov, K. B. Efetov

Instanton crystal is a fascinating phase which is encountered when the minimum of the free energy corresponds to a configuration with an imaginary-time-dependent order parameter in the form of a chain of alternating instantons and anti-instantons. We present the results of the investigation of the real-time correlation functions of the order parameter in the instanton crystal phase. In order to obtain the correlation functions in real time, we formulate an original method of analytic continuation from imaginary times, which is easily adapted into an efficient numerical scheme for the computations. The resulting correlation functions exhibit nontrivial slowly decaying oscillations in real time, which is reminiscent of prethermal time crystals.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Apr 26, 2022•0 citations

Slowly decaying real-time oscillations in instanton crystal

Grigory A. Starkov, K. B. Efetov

Instanton crystal is a fascinating phase which is encountered when the minimum of the free energy corresponds to a configuration with an imaginary-time-dependent order parameter in the form of a chain of alternating instantons and anti-instantons. We present the results of the investigation of the real-time correlation functions of the order parameter in the instanton crystal phase. In order to obtain the correlation functions in real-time, we formulate an original method of analytic continuation from imaginary times, which is easily adapted into an efficient numerical scheme for the computations. The resulting correlation functions exhibit non-trivial slowly decaying oscillations in real-time, which is reminiscent of prethermal time crystals.

arXiv:2111.02346•Nov 3, 2021•0 citations

Thermodynamics of coupled time crystals with an application to energy storage

Paulo J. Paulino, Albert Cabot, Gabriele De Chiara +3 more

Abstract Open many-body quantum systems can exhibit intriguing nonequilibrium phases of matter, such as time crystals. In these phases, the state of the system spontaneously breaks the time-translation symmetry of the dynamical generator, which typically manifests through persistent oscillations of an order parameter. A paradigmatic model displaying such a symmetry breaking is the boundary time crystal (BTC), which has been extensively analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Despite the broad interest in these nonequilibrium phases, their thermodynamics and their fluctuating behavior remain largely unexplored, in particular for the case of coupled time crystals. In this work, we consider two interacting BTCs and derive a consistent interpretation of their thermodynamic behavior. We fully characterize their average dynamics and the behavior of their quantum fluctuations, which allows us to demonstrate the presence of quantum and classical correlations in both the stationary and the time-crystal phases displayed by the system. We furthermore exploit our theoretical derivation to explore possible applications of time crystals as quantum batteries, demonstrating their ability to efficiently store energy.

arXiv:2411.04836•Quantum Science and Technology•Oct 28, 2025•5 citations

Classes of metastable thermodynamic quantum time crystals

Sergei I. Mukhin, Timur R. Galimzyanov

Quantum field theories of many-body systems predict ``instantonic crystals'' connecting degenerate thermodynamic states with classically broken symmetries. The instantons break continuous translation symmetry of Euclidean space along the axis of imaginary time. The possibility for the emergence of ``thermodynamic quantum time crystals'' that extremize the Euclidean action of the system appeals to the imagination. However, the authors prove here that at least two general classes of ``instantonic crystals'', connecting states of Fermi systems with charge, spin, or superconducting orders can constitute neither thermodynamic equilibrium nor the ground state.

arXiv:1904.06674•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Aug 12, 2019•7 citations
Investigation of states with a periodic time dependence of physical quantities attracts a considerable interest now. Although it has been proposed initially that such states (coined Quantum Time Crystals) might be macroscopic and thermodynamically stable, results of a more careful study of the problem seemed to indicate that quantum time crystals could be realized only in systems out of equilibrium. Here we show that, in contrast to the general belief, thermodynamically stable macroscopic quantum time crystals can exist. The order parameter of this new state of matter is periodic in both real and imaginary time but its average over the phase of the oscillations equals zero. At the same time, correlation functions characterizing physical quantities oscillate periodically in time without any decay. An alternative interpretation of the results is based on a concept of an operator order parameter. Calculations are performed for a rather general microscopic model that may in particular be suitable for describing the pseudogap state in superconducting cuprates.
A model demonstrating the existence of a thermodynamically stable quantum time-space crystal has been proposed and studied. This state is characterized by an order parameter periodic in both real and imaginary times. The average of the order parameter over phases of the oscillations vanishes but correlation functions of two or more order parameters show nondecaying oscillations. An alternative interpretation of the results is based on the concept of an operator order parameter introduced for this purpose. The model studied here has been suggested previously, in particular, for describing the pseudogap state in superconducting cuprates. Although many properties of the time-space crystal considered here are close to those of a well known DDW state, static magnetic moments oscillating at $(\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi})$ do not exist. Instead, $\ensuremath{\delta}$ peaks at finite energies are predicted in the cross-section of inelastic spin-polarized neutron scattering.
Temperature is a fundamental thermodynamic variable for matter. Physical observables are often found to either increase or decrease with it, or show a non-monotonic dependence with peaks signaling underlying phase transitions or anomalies. Statistical field theory has established connection between temperature and time: a quantum ensemble with inverse temperature β is formally equivalent to a dynamic system evolving along an imaginary time from 0 to iβ in the space one dimension higher. Here we report that a gas of hard-core bosons interacting with a thermal bath manifests an unexpected temperature-periodic oscillation of its macroscopic observables, arising from the microscopic origin of space-time locked translational symmetry breaking and crystalline ordering. Such a temperature crystal, supported by quantum Monte Carlo simulation, generalizes the concept of purely spatial density-wave order to the imaginary time axis for Euclidean action.
Instanton crystal is a fascinating phase which is encountered when the minimum of the free energy corresponds to a configuration with an imaginary-time-dependent order parameter in the form of a chain of alternating instantons and anti-instantons. We present the results of the investigation of the real-time correlation functions of the order parameter in the instanton crystal phase. In order to obtain the correlation functions in real time, we formulate an original method of analytic continuation from imaginary times, which is easily adapted into an efficient numerical scheme for the computations. The resulting correlation functions exhibit nontrivial slowly decaying oscillations in real time, which is reminiscent of prethermal time crystals.
Instanton crystal is a fascinating phase which is encountered when the minimum of the free energy corresponds to a configuration with an imaginary-time-dependent order parameter in the form of a chain of alternating instantons and anti-instantons. We present the results of the investigation of the real-time correlation functions of the order parameter in the instanton crystal phase. In order to obtain the correlation functions in real-time, we formulate an original method of analytic continuation from imaginary times, which is easily adapted into an efficient numerical scheme for the computations. The resulting correlation functions exhibit non-trivial slowly decaying oscillations in real-time, which is reminiscent of prethermal time crystals.
Abstract Open many-body quantum systems can exhibit intriguing nonequilibrium phases of matter, such as time crystals. In these phases, the state of the system spontaneously breaks the time-translation symmetry of the dynamical generator, which typically manifests through persistent oscillations of an order parameter. A paradigmatic model displaying such a symmetry breaking is the boundary time crystal (BTC), which has been extensively analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Despite the broad interest in these nonequilibrium phases, their thermodynamics and their fluctuating behavior remain largely unexplored, in particular for the case of coupled time crystals. In this work, we consider two interacting BTCs and derive a consistent interpretation of their thermodynamic behavior. We fully characterize their average dynamics and the behavior of their quantum fluctuations, which allows us to demonstrate the presence of quantum and classical correlations in both the stationary and the time-crystal phases displayed by the system. We furthermore exploit our theoretical derivation to explore possible applications of time crystals as quantum batteries, demonstrating their ability to efficiently store energy.
Quantum field theories of many-body systems predict ``instantonic crystals'' connecting degenerate thermodynamic states with classically broken symmetries. The instantons break continuous translation symmetry of Euclidean space along the axis of imaginary time. The possibility for the emergence of ``thermodynamic quantum time crystals'' that extremize the Euclidean action of the system appeals to the imagination. However, the authors prove here that at least two general classes of ``instantonic crystals'', connecting states of Fermi systems with charge, spin, or superconducting orders can constitute neither thermodynamic equilibrium nor the ground state.