Many-body-localized discrete time crystal with a programmable spin-based quantum simulator

Science. 2021 Dec 17;374(6574):1474-1478. doi: 10.1126/science.abk0603. Epub 2021 Nov 4.

Abstract

The discrete time crystal (DTC) is a nonequilibrium phase of matter that spontaneously breaks time-translation symmetry. Disorder-induced many-body localization can stabilize the DTC phase by breaking ergodicity and preventing thermalization. Here, we observe the hallmark signatures of the many-body–localized DTC using a quantum simulation platform based on individually controllable carbon-13 nuclear spins in diamond. We demonstrate long-lived period-doubled oscillations and confirm that they are robust for generic initial states, thus showing the characteristic time-crystalline order across the many-body spectrum. Our results are consistent with the realization of an out-of-equilibrium Floquet phase of matter and introduce a programmable quantum simulator based on solid-state spins for exploring many-body physics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't