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:2502.16999

Stable time rondeau crystals in dissipative many-body systems

Zhuocheng Ma, Yan, Jin, Zhao, Hongzheng, Liang-You Peng

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Driven systems offer the potential to realize a wide range of non-equilibrium phenomena that are inaccessible in static systems, such as the discrete time crystals. Time rondeau crystals with a partial temporal order have been proposed as a distinctive prethermal phase of matter in systems driven by structured random protocols. Yet, heating is inevitable in closed systems and time rondeau crystals eventually melt. We introduce dissipation to counteract heating and demonstrate stable time rondeau crystals, which persist indefinitely, in a many-body interacting system. A key ingredient is synchronization in the non-interacting limit, which allows for stable time rondeau order without generating excessive heating. The presence of many-body interaction competes with synchronization and a de-synchronization phase transition occurs at a finite interaction strength. This transition is well captured via a linear stability analysis of the underlying stochastic processes.

DOI
10.34657/36826

Related papers

Stable time rondeau crystals in dissipative many-body systems

Zhuocheng Ma, Jin Yan, Hongzheng Zhao +1 more

Driven systems offer the potential to realize a wide range of nonequilibrium phenomena that are inaccessible in static systems, such as discrete time crystals. Time rondeau crystals with a partial temporal order have been proposed as a distinctive prethermal phase of matter in systems driven by structured random protocols. Yet, heating is inevitable in closed systems and time rondeau crystals eventually melt. We introduce dissipation to counteract heating and demonstrate stable time rondeau crystals, which persist indefinitely, in a many-body interacting system. A key ingredient is synchronization in the noninteracting limit, which allows for stable time rondeau order without generating excessive heating. The presence of many-body interaction competes with synchronization and a desynchronization phase transition occurs at a finite interaction strength. This transition is well captured via a linear stability analysis of the underlying stochastic processes.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 24, 2025•2 citations

Experimental observation of a time rondeau crystal

Leo Joon Il Moon, Paul M. Schindler, Yizhe Sun +6 more

Abstract Conventional phases of matter can be characterized by the symmetries they break, one example being water ice whose crystalline structure breaks the continuous translation symmetry of space. Recently, breaking of time-translation symmetry was observed in non-equilibrium systems, producing so-called time crystals. Here we investigate different kinds of partial temporal ordering, stabilized by non-periodic yet structured drives, which we call the rondeau order. Using carbon-13 nuclear spins in diamond as a quantum simulator, we use microwave driving fields to create tunable short-time disorder in a system exhibiting long-time stroboscopic order. Our spin control architecture allows us to implement a family of driving fields including periodic, aperiodic and structured random drives. We use a high-throughput read-out scheme to continuously observe the spin polarization and its rondeau order, with controllable lifetimes exceeding 4 s. Using degrees of freedom associated with the short-time temporal disorder of rondeau order, we demonstrate the capacity to encode information in the response of observables. Our work broadens the landscape of observed non-equilibrium temporal order, and raises the prospect for the potential applications of driven quantum matter.

arXiv:2404.05620•Nature Physics•Oct 14, 2025•12 citations

Shattered time: can a dissipative time crystal survive many-body correlations?

K Tucker, B Zhu, R J Lewis-Swan +4 more

We investigate the emergence of a time crystal (TC) in a driven dissipative many-body spin array. In this system the interplay between incoherent spin pumping and collective emission stabilizes a synchronized non-equilibrium steady state which in the thermodynamic limit features a self-generated time-periodic pattern imposed by collective elastic interactions. In contrast to prior realizations where the time symmetry is already broken by an external drive, here it is only spontaneously broken by the elastic exchange interactions and manifest in the two-time correlation spectrum. Employing a combination of exact numerical calculations and a second-order cumulant expansion, we investigate the impact of many-body correlations on the TC formation and establish a connection between the regime where it is stable and where the system features a slow growth rate of the mutual information. This observation allows us to conclude that the TC studied here is an emergent semi-classical out-of-equilibrium state of matter. We also confirm the rigidity of the TC to single-particle dephasing. Finally, we discuss an experimental implementation using long lived dipoles in an optical cavity.

arXiv:1805.03343•New Journal of Physics•Nov 16, 2018•84 citations

Bifurcation of time crystals in driven and dissipative Rydberg atomic gas

Liu, Bang, Zhang, Li-Hua, Zong-Kai Liu +10 more

A time crystal is an exotic phase of matter where time-translational symmetry is broken; this phase differs from the spatial symmetry breaking induced in crystals in space. Lots of experiments report the transition from a thermal equilibrium phase to time crystal phase. However, there is no experimental method to probe the bifurcation effect of distinct time crystals in quantum many-body systems. Here, in a driven and dissipative many-body Rydberg atom system, we observe multiple continuous dissipative time crystals and emergence of more complex temporal symmetries beyond the single time crystal phase. Bifurcation of time crystals in strongly interacting Rydberg atoms is observed; the process manifests as a transition from a time crystal state of long temporal order to one of short temporal order, or vice versa. By manipulating the driving field parameters, we observe the time crystal's bistability and a hysteresis loop. These investigations indicate new possibilities for control and manipulation of the temporal symmetries of non-equilibrium systems.

arXiv:2402.13644•Feb 21, 2024•0 citations

Shattered time: can a dissipative time crystal survive many-body correlations?

Tucker, K., Zhu, B., Lewis-Swan, R.J. +4 more

We investigate the emergence of a time crystal in a driven-dissipative many-body spin array. In this system the interplay between incoherent spin pumping and collective emission stabilizes a synchronized non-equilibrium steady state which in the thermodynamic limit features a self-generated time-periodic pattern imposed by collective elastic interactions. In contrast to prior realizations where the time symmetry is already broken by an external drive, here it is only spontaneously broken by the elastic exchange interactions and manifest in the two-time correlation spectrum. Employing a combination of exact numerical calculations and a second-order cumulant expansion, we investigate the impact of many-body correlations on the time crystal formation and establish a connection between the regime where it is stable and a slow growth rate of the mutual information, signalling that the time crystal studied here is an emergent semi-classical out-of-equilibrium state of matter. We also confirm the rigidity of the time crystal to single-particle dephasing. Finally, we discuss an experimental implementation using long-lived dipoles in an optical cavity

•Jan 1, 2018•75 citations

Discrete time crystal in periodically driven quantum Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model

Anonymous, Arti Garg

Discrete time crystals (DTC) have emerged as a significant phase of matter for out-of-equilibrium many-body systems. In this work, we study how random long-range interactions contribute to the stability of the DTC phase. Generally, a stable DTC phase is believed to be realized in disordered systems with short-range interactions. Here, we explore a periodically driven quantum Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model of Ising spin-glass in which all spins are coupled to each other randomly. We investigate the possibilities of the DTC phase in the SK model within three different driving protocols and found that the quantum SK model exhibits a robust DTC phase, although systems with uniform long-range interactions can exhibit only prethermal DTC phase. Further, we demonstrate that disorder in the local $XY$ term or transverse field is crucial for stabilizing a broad DTC phase, despite random couplings in the SK model. Our analysis shows that the stability of the DTC phase is determined by the non-ergodic nature of the Floquet eigenstates.

arXiv:2504.19378•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 22, 2026•0 citations
Driven systems offer the potential to realize a wide range of non-equilibrium phenomena that are inaccessible in static systems, such as the discrete time crystals. Time rondeau crystals with a partial temporal order have been proposed as a distinctive prethermal phase of matter in systems driven by structured random protocols. Yet, heating is inevitable in closed systems and time rondeau crystals eventually melt. We introduce dissipation to counteract heating and demonstrate stable time rondeau crystals, which persist indefinitely, in a many-body interacting system. A key ingredient is synchronization in the non-interacting limit, which allows for stable time rondeau order without generating excessive heating. The presence of many-body interaction competes with synchronization and a de-synchronization phase transition occurs at a finite interaction strength. This transition is well captured via a linear stability analysis of the underlying stochastic processes.
Driven systems offer the potential to realize a wide range of nonequilibrium phenomena that are inaccessible in static systems, such as discrete time crystals. Time rondeau crystals with a partial temporal order have been proposed as a distinctive prethermal phase of matter in systems driven by structured random protocols. Yet, heating is inevitable in closed systems and time rondeau crystals eventually melt. We introduce dissipation to counteract heating and demonstrate stable time rondeau crystals, which persist indefinitely, in a many-body interacting system. A key ingredient is synchronization in the noninteracting limit, which allows for stable time rondeau order without generating excessive heating. The presence of many-body interaction competes with synchronization and a desynchronization phase transition occurs at a finite interaction strength. This transition is well captured via a linear stability analysis of the underlying stochastic processes.
Abstract Conventional phases of matter can be characterized by the symmetries they break, one example being water ice whose crystalline structure breaks the continuous translation symmetry of space. Recently, breaking of time-translation symmetry was observed in non-equilibrium systems, producing so-called time crystals. Here we investigate different kinds of partial temporal ordering, stabilized by non-periodic yet structured drives, which we call the rondeau order. Using carbon-13 nuclear spins in diamond as a quantum simulator, we use microwave driving fields to create tunable short-time disorder in a system exhibiting long-time stroboscopic order. Our spin control architecture allows us to implement a family of driving fields including periodic, aperiodic and structured random drives. We use a high-throughput read-out scheme to continuously observe the spin polarization and its rondeau order, with controllable lifetimes exceeding 4 s. Using degrees of freedom associated with the short-time temporal disorder of rondeau order, we demonstrate the capacity to encode information in the response of observables. Our work broadens the landscape of observed non-equilibrium temporal order, and raises the prospect for the potential applications of driven quantum matter.
We investigate the emergence of a time crystal (TC) in a driven dissipative many-body spin array. In this system the interplay between incoherent spin pumping and collective emission stabilizes a synchronized non-equilibrium steady state which in the thermodynamic limit features a self-generated time-periodic pattern imposed by collective elastic interactions. In contrast to prior realizations where the time symmetry is already broken by an external drive, here it is only spontaneously broken by the elastic exchange interactions and manifest in the two-time correlation spectrum. Employing a combination of exact numerical calculations and a second-order cumulant expansion, we investigate the impact of many-body correlations on the TC formation and establish a connection between the regime where it is stable and where the system features a slow growth rate of the mutual information. This observation allows us to conclude that the TC studied here is an emergent semi-classical out-of-equilibrium state of matter. We also confirm the rigidity of the TC to single-particle dephasing. Finally, we discuss an experimental implementation using long lived dipoles in an optical cavity.
A time crystal is an exotic phase of matter where time-translational symmetry is broken; this phase differs from the spatial symmetry breaking induced in crystals in space. Lots of experiments report the transition from a thermal equilibrium phase to time crystal phase. However, there is no experimental method to probe the bifurcation effect of distinct time crystals in quantum many-body systems. Here, in a driven and dissipative many-body Rydberg atom system, we observe multiple continuous dissipative time crystals and emergence of more complex temporal symmetries beyond the single time crystal phase. Bifurcation of time crystals in strongly interacting Rydberg atoms is observed; the process manifests as a transition from a time crystal state of long temporal order to one of short temporal order, or vice versa. By manipulating the driving field parameters, we observe the time crystal's bistability and a hysteresis loop. These investigations indicate new possibilities for control and manipulation of the temporal symmetries of non-equilibrium systems.
We investigate the emergence of a time crystal in a driven-dissipative many-body spin array. In this system the interplay between incoherent spin pumping and collective emission stabilizes a synchronized non-equilibrium steady state which in the thermodynamic limit features a self-generated time-periodic pattern imposed by collective elastic interactions. In contrast to prior realizations where the time symmetry is already broken by an external drive, here it is only spontaneously broken by the elastic exchange interactions and manifest in the two-time correlation spectrum. Employing a combination of exact numerical calculations and a second-order cumulant expansion, we investigate the impact of many-body correlations on the time crystal formation and establish a connection between the regime where it is stable and a slow growth rate of the mutual information, signalling that the time crystal studied here is an emergent semi-classical out-of-equilibrium state of matter. We also confirm the rigidity of the time crystal to single-particle dephasing. Finally, we discuss an experimental implementation using long-lived dipoles in an optical cavity
Discrete time crystals (DTC) have emerged as a significant phase of matter for out-of-equilibrium many-body systems. In this work, we study how random long-range interactions contribute to the stability of the DTC phase. Generally, a stable DTC phase is believed to be realized in disordered systems with short-range interactions. Here, we explore a periodically driven quantum Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model of Ising spin-glass in which all spins are coupled to each other randomly. We investigate the possibilities of the DTC phase in the SK model within three different driving protocols and found that the quantum SK model exhibits a robust DTC phase, although systems with uniform long-range interactions can exhibit only prethermal DTC phase. Further, we demonstrate that disorder in the local XYXYXY term or transverse field is crucial for stabilizing a broad DTC phase, despite random couplings in the SK model. Our analysis shows that the stability of the DTC phase is determined by the non-ergodic nature of the Floquet eigenstates.