Scientists Create New Form Of Matter With Time Crystals

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Researchers from two independent teams--one from Harvard and another from University of Maryland--have confirmed the existence of time crystals, a new phase of matter.

Crystals are objects whose structures repeat through space. Time crystals are similar in the sense that their structures repeat through time, according to Science Alert. What this means is that time crystals move back and forth without expending energy. When objects are in ground state, movement is said to be impossible since that requires expending energy. But with time crystals, they oscillate even at the lowest energy state. Motion happens without energy.

The idea of time crystals was first proposed in 2012 by Nobel laureate theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek. Time crystals are said to be constantly moving in its natural state, which is what makes it a new phase of matter-- a non-equilibrium matter.

Norman Yao, an assistant professor from the University of California, Berkeley, has recently published a paper on how to make one. The paper describes how to make and measure these time crystals and even predict their various phases.

Two teams have already followed the blueprint on how to make a time crystal and have succeeded, as per New Scientist. Chris Monroe and his team from the University of Maryland successfully constructed a time crystal from a chain of ytterbium ions last September. This was followed by Mikhail Lukin and his team from Harvard who also built another one by exploring defects in diamonds and using densely packed nitrogen vacancy centers, Berkeley News reported.

Phil Richerme from Indiana University considers the creation of time crystals from two separate methods as very significant because it confirms that they are a new phase of matter, and not just some "curiosity relegated to small or narrowly specific systems."

Yao is continuing his study on time crystals and exploring other non-equilibrium matter that is not yet realized. Watch the video below to find out more about time crystals: