Emergent limit cycles and time crystal dynamics in an atom-cavity system

Abstract

We propose an experimental realization of a time crystal using an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a high finesse optical cavity pumped with laser light detuned to the blue side of the relevant atomic resonance. By mapping out the dynamical phase diagram, we identify regions in parameter space showing stable limit cycle dynamics. Since the model describing the system is time-independent, the emergence of a limit cycle phase indicates the breaking of continuous time translation symmetry. Employing a semiclassical analysis to demonstrate the robustness of the limit cycles against perturbations and quantum fluctuations, we establish the emergence of a time crystal.

All-optical dissipative discrete time crystals

“…Yet, coupling to an external environment drains energy from a driven system and a periodic steady state can prevail [15][16][17] . Only recently has the investigation of dissipative DTCs gained traction [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] .…”

P -Band Induced Self-Organization and Dynamics with Repulsively Driven Ultracold Atoms in an Optical Cavity

“…1). In such a configuration, limit cycles and chaos were recently predicted [22,24,26,27] and connected to dynamic phenomena such as time crystals [28]. Experiments, however, have so far been limited to the case of red-detuned, attractive pump fields.…”

Route to Extend the Lifetime of a Discrete Time Crystal in a Finite Spin Chain without Disorder

“…Eventually however, the existence of quantum time crystals in equilibrium was ruled out by a no-go theorem [8]. This crucial insight has prompted several researchers to explore the possibility of realizing time crystals in non-equilibrium quantum systems [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. These efforts have been immensely fruitful and led to the development of an active area of research [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”