For the First Time Ever, Scientists Caught Time Crystals Interacting
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Mechanics: For the first time, scientists have observed an interaction of a rare and baffling form of matter called time crystals. The crystals look at a glance like "regular" crystals, but they have a relationship to time that both intrigues and puzzles scientists because of its unpredictability. Now, experts say they could have applications in quantum computing. [...] Researchers say they've collided two time crystals to see what happens next. "Our results demonstrate that time crystals obey the general dynamics of quantum mechanics and offer a basis to further investigate the fundamental properties of these phases, opening pathways for possible applications in developing fields, such as quantum information processing," they explain in a new paper. In their experiments, they placed two time crystals in superfluid and mixed magnons between them. Magnons are a magnetic quasiparticle that, in this case, led to "opposite-phase oscillations," while the crystals themselves stayed phase stable. What's cool (and, literally, supercooled) is how the matter acts within predictable quantum mechanical ways despite the central quality of wild oscillation patterns over time. "Before this, nobody had observed two time crystals in the same system, let alone seen them interact," lead author Samuli Autti, of Lancaster University, said in a statement. "Controlled interactions are the number one item on the wish list of anyone looking to harness a time crystal for practical applications, such as quantum information processing."
from Slashdot https://ift.tt/2HQvS9Z
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
from Slashdot https://ift.tt/2HQvS9Z
0 Response to "For the First Time Ever, Scientists Caught Time Crystals Interacting"
Post a Comment