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

Physics

Turning a Quantum Computer into a Time Crystal

Philip Ball

Published Sep 20, 2021• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Turning a Quantum Computer into a Time Crystal Google's Sycamore quantum processor can simulate an elusive quantum system called a discrete time crystal.
DOI
10.1103/physics.14.131

Related papers

Time crystals: the search for a new phase of matter

P. Roushan

Pedram Roushan, from Google’s Quantum AI team in California, describes this elusive form of matter – and how it could be simulated on the company’s Sycamore quantum processor.

Physics World•Aug 1, 2022•0 citations

FLEET US-Aus colloquium slides

Dianne Ruka

Given recent progress in the realm of noisy, intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices, we explore their implications for quantum many-body physics in a practical sense: we ask which physical phenomena in the realm of quantum statistical mechanics can these devices realize better than any other experimental platform. As a target, we identify discrete time crystals (DTCs), novel out-of-equilibrium phases of matter that break time translation symmetry, and are realized in the intrinsically nonequilibrium setting of periodically driven quantum systems stabilized by disorder and many-body localization. While precursors of time-crystals have been observed across a variety of experimental platforms - ranging from trapped ions to nitrogen vacancy centers - each of these lacks one or more of the necessary ingredients for realizing a true incarnation of this phase, and detecting the long-range spatiotemporal order that is its defining feature. We show that a new generation of quantum simulators, such as Google's Sycamore processor, can be programmed to realize the DTC phase and to experimentally verify its dynamical properties using a wide range of observables and initial states. We also discuss the effects of environmental decoherence, and show that already with existing technology one could observe the persistence of DTC spatiotemporal order over hundreds periods, with parametric improvements to come as the technology advances in the future.

•Jan 1, 2020•0 citations

Spacetime is a quantum computer

Matheus Pereira Lobo

If spacetime is a quantum computer, then all physical systems are equivalent to quantum computational algorithms.

•Jun 21, 2020•2 citations

Topologically ordered time crystals

Thorsten B. Wahl, Bo Han, Benjámin Béri

Time crystals are a dynamical phase of periodically driven quantum many-body systems where discrete time-translation symmetry is broken spontaneously. Time-crystallinity however subtly requires also spatial order, ordinarily related to further symmetries, such as spin-flip symmetry when the spatial order is ferromagnetic. Here we define topologically ordered time crystals, a time-crystalline phase borne out of intrinsic topological order-a particularly robust form of spatial order that requires no symmetry. We show that many-body localization can stabilize this phase against generic perturbations and establish some of its key features and signatures, including a dynamical, time-crystal form of the perimeter law for topological order. We link topologically ordered and ordinary time crystals through three complementary perspectives: higher-form symmetries, quantum error-correcting codes, and a holographic correspondence. Topologically ordered time crystals may be realized in programmable quantum devices, as we illustrate for the Google Sycamore processor.

arXiv:2105.09694•Nature Communications•Nov 13, 2024•7 citations

An inexpensive crystal makes a fine quantum time machine

Johanna L. Miller

To understand the intricacies of thermodynamics in the quantum regime, it helps to be able to turn back the clock.

Physics Today•Nov 1, 2019•0 citations

Time Crystals at Last?

1. Observation of Time-Crystalline Eigenstate Order on a Quantum Processor Authors: Google Quantum AI and collaborators arXiv:2107.13571 2. Observation of a many-body-localized discrete time crystal with a programmable spin-based quantum simulator Authors: J. Randall, C. E. Bradley, F. V. van der Gronden, A. Galicia, M. H. Abobeih, M. Markham, D. J. Twitchen, F. Machado, N. […]

Journal Club for Condensed Matter Physics•Oct 31, 2021•0 citations
Given recent progress in the realm of noisy, intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices, we explore their implications for quantum many-body physics in a practical sense: we ask which physical phenomena in the realm of quantum statistical mechanics can these devices realize better than any other experimental platform. As a target, we identify discrete time crystals (DTCs), novel out-of-equilibrium phases of matter that break time translation symmetry, and are realized in the intrinsically nonequilibrium setting of periodically driven quantum systems stabilized by disorder and many-body localization. While precursors of time-crystals have been observed across a variety of experimental platforms - ranging from trapped ions to nitrogen vacancy centers - each of these lacks one or more of the necessary ingredients for realizing a true incarnation of this phase, and detecting the long-range spatiotemporal order that is its defining feature. We show that a new generation of quantum simulators, such as Google's Sycamore processor, can be programmed to realize the DTC phase and to experimentally verify its dynamical properties using a wide range of observables and initial states. We also discuss the effects of environmental decoherence, and show that already with existing technology one could observe the persistence of DTC spatiotemporal order over hundreds periods, with parametric improvements to come as the technology advances in the future.
Time crystals are a dynamical phase of periodically driven quantum many-body systems where discrete time-translation symmetry is broken spontaneously. Time-crystallinity however subtly requires also spatial order, ordinarily related to further symmetries, such as spin-flip symmetry when the spatial order is ferromagnetic. Here we define topologically ordered time crystals, a time-crystalline phase borne out of intrinsic topological order-a particularly robust form of spatial order that requires no symmetry. We show that many-body localization can stabilize this phase against generic perturbations and establish some of its key features and signatures, including a dynamical, time-crystal form of the perimeter law for topological order. We link topologically ordered and ordinary time crystals through three complementary perspectives: higher-form symmetries, quantum error-correcting codes, and a holographic correspondence. Topologically ordered time crystals may be realized in programmable quantum devices, as we illustrate for the Google Sycamore processor.