skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Observation of a prethermal discrete time crystal
Extending the framework of statistical physics to the nonequilibrium setting has led to the discovery of previously unidentified phases of matter, often catalyzed by periodic driving. However, preventing the runaway heating that is associated with driving a strongly interacting quantum system remains a challenge in the investigation of these newly discovered phases. In this work, we utilize a trapped-ion quantum simulator to observe the signatures of a nonequilibrium driven phase without disorder—the prethermal discrete time crystal. Here, the heating problem is circumvented not by disorder-induced many-body localization, but rather by high-frequency driving, which leads to an expansive time window where nonequilibrium phases can emerge. Floquet prethermalization is thus presented as a general strategy for creating, stabilizing, and studying intrinsically out-of-equilibrium phases of matter.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1818914
PAR ID:
10248911
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Science
Volume:
372
Issue:
6547
ISSN:
0036-8075
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 1192-1196
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Nature Communications)
    Abstract Topologically ordered phases of matter elude Landau’s symmetry-breaking theory, featuring a variety of intriguing properties such as long-range entanglement and intrinsic robustness against local perturbations. Their extension to periodically driven systems gives rise to exotic new phenomena that are forbidden in thermal equilibrium. Here, we report the observation of signatures of such a phenomenon—a prethermal topologically ordered time crystal—with programmable superconducting qubits arranged on a square lattice. By periodically driving the superconducting qubits with a surface code Hamiltonian, we observe discrete time-translation symmetry breaking dynamics that is only manifested in the subharmonic temporal response of nonlocal logical operators. We further connect the observed dynamics to the underlying topological order by measuring a nonzero topological entanglement entropy and studying its subsequent dynamics. Our results demonstrate the potential to explore exotic topologically ordered nonequilibrium phases of matter with noisy intermediate-scale quantum processors. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Physical Review X)
    Floquet (periodically driven) systems can give rise to unique nonequilibrium phases of matter without equilibrium analogs. The most prominent example is the realization of discrete time crystals. An intriguing question emerges: What other novel phases can manifest when the constraint of time periodicity is relaxed? In this study, we explore quantum systems subjected to a quasiperiodic drive. Leveraging a strongly interacting spin ensemble in diamond, we identify the emergence of long-lived discrete time quasicrystals. Unlike conventional time crystals, time quasicrystals exhibit robust subharmonic responses at multiple incommensurate frequencies. Furthermore, we show that the multifrequency nature of the quasiperiodic drive allows for the formation of diverse patterns associated with different discrete time quasicrystalline phases. Our findings demonstrate the existence of nonequilibrium phases in quasi-Floquet settings, significantly broadening the catalog of novel phenomena in driven many-body quantum systems. Published by the American Physical Society2025 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, arXiv)
    Topologically ordered phases of matter elude Landau's symmetry-breaking theory, featuring a variety of intriguing properties such as long-range entanglement and intrinsic robustness against local perturbations. Their extension to periodically driven systems gives rise to exotic new phenomena that are forbidden in thermal equilibrium. Here, we report the observation of signatures of such a phenomenon -- a prethermal topologically ordered time crystal -- with programmable superconducting qubits arranged on a square lattice. By periodically driving the superconducting qubits with a surface-code Hamiltonian, we observe discrete time-translation symmetry breaking dynamics that is only manifested in the subharmonic temporal response of nonlocal logical operators. We further connect the observed dynamics to the underlying topological order by measuring a nonzero topological entanglement entropy and studying its subsequent dynamics. Our results demonstrate the potential to explore exotic topologically ordered nonequilibrium phases of matter with noisy intermediate-scale quantum processors. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Nature)
    Abstract Quantum many-body systems away from equilibrium host a rich variety of exotic phenomena that are forbidden by equilibrium thermodynamics. A prominent example is that of discrete time crystals 1–8 , in which time-translational symmetry is spontaneously broken in periodically driven systems. Pioneering experiments have observed signatures of time crystalline phases with trapped ions 9,10 , solid-state spin systems 11–15 , ultracold atoms 16,17 and superconducting qubits 18–20 . Here we report the observation of a distinct type of non-equilibrium state of matter, Floquet symmetry-protected topological phases, which are implemented through digital quantum simulation with an array of programmable superconducting qubits. We observe robust long-lived temporal correlations and subharmonic temporal response for the edge spins over up to 40 driving cycles using a circuit of depth exceeding 240 and acting on 26 qubits. We demonstrate that the subharmonic response is independent of the initial state, and experimentally map out a phase boundary between the Floquet symmetry-protected topological and thermal phases. Our results establish a versatile digital simulation approach to exploring exotic non-equilibrium phases of matter with current noisy intermediate-scale quantum processors 21 . 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Nature Physics)
    Abstract Quantum transport can distinguish between dynamical phases of matter. For instance, ballistic propagation characterizes the absence of disorder, whereas in many-body localized phases, particles do not propagate for exponentially long times. Additional possibilities include states of matter exhibiting anomalous transport in which particles propagate with a non-trivial exponent. Here we report the experimental observation of anomalous transport across a broad range of the phase diagram of a kicked quasicrystal. The Hamiltonian of our system has been predicted to exhibit a rich phase diagram, including not only fully localized and fully delocalized phases but also an extended region comprising a nested pattern of localized, delocalized and multifractal states, which gives rise to anomalous transport. Our cold-atom realization is enabled by new Floquet engineering techniques, which expand the accessible phase diagram by five orders of magnitude. Mapping transport properties throughout the phase diagram, we observe disorder-driven re-entrant delocalization and sub-ballistic transport, and we present a theoretical explanation of these phenomena based on eigenstate multifractality. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email