Phattamon Konghambut
Time crystals are classified as discrete or continuous depending on whether they spontaneously break discrete or continuous time translation symmetry. While discrete time crystals have been extensively studied in periodically driven systems since their recent discovery, the experimental realization of a continuous time crystal [1,2] was still pending. We report the observation of a limit cycle phase in a continuously pumped dissipative atom-cavity system [3], which is characterized by emergent oscillations in the intracavity photon number. We observe that the phase of this oscillation is random for different realizations, and hence this dynamical many-body state breaks continuous time translation symmetry spontaneously. The observed robustness of the limit cycles against temporal perturbations confirms the realization of a continuous time crystal. Moreover, if we modulate the pump field of our atom-cavity system periodically we observe discrete time crystalline dynamics [4].
[1] F. Piazza and H. Ritsch, Self-Ordered Limit Cycles, Chaos, and Phase Slippage with a Superfluid inside an Optical Resonator, PRL, 115, 163601 (2015)[2] H. Keßler, J. G. Cosme, M. Hemmerling, L. Mathey, and A. Hemmerich, Emergent limit cycles and time crystal dynamics in an atom-cavity system, PRA, 99(5), 053605 (2019)
[3] P. Kongkhambut, J. Skulte, L. Mathey, J. G. Cosme, A. Hemmerich, and H. Keßler, Observation of a continuous time crystal, Science 307, 6606, 670-673 (2022)
[4] H. Keßler, P. Kongkhambut, C. Georges, L. Mathey, J. G. Cosme, and A. Hemmerich, Observation of a dissipative time crystal, PRL 127, 043602 (2021)