The latest time crystal innovation may expand the known boundaries of quantum mechanics.
Physicists have created a new type of time crystal that may help confirm some fundamental theories about quantum interactions. A standard time crystal is a new phase of matter that features perpetual motion without expending energy. According to Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis and one of the team's lead researchers, a time crystal resembles a traditional crystal. However, unlike a traditional crystal, which repeats a pattern across the physical dimension of space, a time crystal repeats a pattern of motion, rearranging its atoms in the same way over time, Zu said. This causes the time crystal to vibrate at a set frequency. A time crystal is theoretically capable of cycling through the same pattern infinitely without requiring any additional power — like a watch that never needs to be wound. The reality, however, is that time crystals are incredibly fragile and thus succumb to environmental pressures fairly easily. Although time crystals have been around since 2016, a team has achieved something unprecedented: They've created a novel type of time crystal called a time quasicrystal. A quasicrystal is a solid that, like a regular crystal, has atoms arranged in a specific,…