A completely new form of matter in perpetual motion

American scientists have demonstrated the existence of time crystals, in which atoms are arranged in a structure similar to diamonds or ice.

Time crystals have atoms that oscillate in a perpetual loop without losing energy. Photo: Jamie Seidel.

Researchers at the University of Maryland and Harvard University in the US confirmed the existence of time crystals in a paper published in the journal Nature on March 8, according to Seeker. This is an exotic state of matter proposed in 2012 by Frank Wilczek, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004.

Many physicists previously thought that the existence of time crystals was impossible, at least in the theory Wilczek originally proposed. In ordinary crystals like gemstones, snowflakes, or salt, the constituent atoms and molecules are arranged in a highly ordered, periodic lattice structure. But in time crystals, the atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern in time rather than in physical space.

Time crystals are created by using lasers, magnets, mirrors, and optics to manipulate atoms, causing them to vibrate together. It’s like a drum head vibrating when someone hits it, said Christopher Monroe, a member of the research team at the University of Maryland.

“We isolate individual atoms, trap them electromagnetically, then move them into a vacuum chamber and hit them with a laser,” says Monroe.

The discovery of time crystals is crucial for future quantum computers, which can operate at higher levels of complexity and stability by exploiting the laws of quantum dynamics. In addition, this technology is also used to create many new types of high-precision quantum clocks.

According to VNE