Time crystals are a novel and exotic phase of matter in which the system’s structure repeats not only in space, but also in time. Unlike ordinary crystals (like salt or quartz), which have atoms arranged in a regular, repeating spatial pattern, time crystals exhibit temporal periodicity—they oscillate in time at regular intervals without using energy.
Proposed by Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek in 2012 and first realized experimentally in 2017, time crystals:
- Operate in a non-equilibrium state, unlike most stable matter.
- Show spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry, meaning the system evolves over time in a stable, repeating way, even when the driving force is constant.
- Require carefully controlled environments, often using quantum systems, such as trapped ions or superconducting qubits.
These systems don’t produce perpetual motion machines—they don’t output usable work—but they do defy conventional thermodynamic expectations by exhibiting motion in their lowest energy state.
Time crystals have potential applications in quantum computing, where their stable, rhythmic behavior could help with maintaining coherence and storing quantum information. Their discovery has opened a new frontier in quantum matter and the study of non-equilibrium physics.