Observation of a space-time crystal in a superfluid quantum gas
Abstract
Time crystals are a phase of matter, for which the discrete time symmetry of the driving Hamiltonian is spontaneously broken. The breaking of discrete time symmetry has been observed in several experiments in driven spin systems. Here, we show the observation of a space-time crystal using ultra-cold atoms, where the periodic structure in both space and time are directly visible in the experimental images. The underlying physics in our superfluid can be described ab initio and allows for a clear identification of the mechanism that causes the spontaneous symmetry breaking. Our results pave the way for the usage of space-time crystals for the discovery of novel nonequilibrium phases of matter.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1807.05904,
title = {Observation of a space-time crystal in a superfluid quantum gas},
author = {Jasper Smits and Lei Liao and Henk Stoof and Peter van der Straten},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1807.05904},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
10 pages, 7 figures, article submission including Supplementary Materials