Impossible Time Crystal Breakthrough - Explained

[@boredguy1297]

There's an online game called Runescape. You can click to follow another player, and you'll try to stay behind them automatically. They can click to follow you and the two of you end up 'dancing' in a kind of push-pull circle. This experiment reminded me of that.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

Lolol best analogy I've heard in a long time

[@jonaswox]

almost any physical system is a "dance" :) I like you analogy, but I would love for you to realise that this "dance" is all around you, all the time.

[@jonaswox]

very interesting example is resonant dynamical systems. That means systems where the "dancing" seems to be coordinated somehow, and the system becomes stable in the same configuration always - no matter the input. For example the gaps in saturns rings are due to resonances between its moons. The resonances are stable because whenever you are away from the equilibrium asymmetric force puls you towards the direction of equilibrium. When you experience this in nature it has a tendency to be awe inspiring.

[@robbiekavanagh2802]

You can do this in Kenshi too

[@professionaldrum2313]

Oh now I understand!

[@davidlewiz4325]

I agree with what you said near the end: The engineering to construct and conduct the experiment is wonderful to behold. However, the significance of what the results really mean is lost on me. Keep it up Ben. Love these videos. 👍 A sign of a sequel video to explain more would definitely grab my attention. 🙂

[@elongatedmusk3132]

Yeah I never heard of that

[@noisepuppet]

I'm given to understand that one possible application is persistent memory storage in quantum computing, but tbh the concept is word salad to me at this point so 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@Lumen_Obscurum]

That quote from the paper at 21:10 made me think of them actually not going "We've done a thing, but can't explain how it does it" and instead a "We've made a thing. And we don't understand why it's doing what it's doing, but it keeps doing it." As any research scientist knows, the true sound of discovery isn't "EUREKA!" But instead "Huh, that's weird..."

[@martifingers]

I was quite out of my depth but this explanation was a perfect balance of simplifying ... but not too much.

[@InternetResearch]

Your explanation was really well done, I was able to understand what you were communicating. Much appreciated, seriously!

[@alexlefevre3555]

You had me at full frontal, and I stayed for the physics. This is incredibly well presented.

[@scrapeape]

dear youtube algorithm, this is my favorite kind of content. interesting premise, well-explained deep dive into methodology, and enticing outcomes. (note: this is a video about a recent science experiment)

[@RedWordsFirst]

That zoom in on the crystal in a watch was a piece of information that made my brain happy to learn. Something I’ve thought about my whole life but never enough to investigate it.

[@Goldbay]

Okay well you just blew my mind. I am a Gold Miner but I specialize in a very specific type of gold and that is crystallized gold. I just learned more from this video than ever on how to now explain to people the difference between crystallized gold and crystalline gold. I just subscribed to your channel I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content

[@robbierobinson8819]

An excellent video. The graphics were amazing and helped me understand much more than I expected to on seeing the title. Your videos are a highlight of any evening of watching information on advances in science.

[@ceebee]

7:20 - I fell asleep listening to this video. I woke up at this part and it didn't register for a few seconds that i still had an earbud in. I was incredibly confused and alarmed.

[@dot1298]

de-confuse with Confusius?

[@mad_vegan]

The extremely long period of oscillation is not too surprising to me. It is common for precession effects to multiply periods of oscillation by several orders of magnitude.

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

Could it be acting like a countdown device? Would this period change if the frequency of the energizing light were also changed?

[@YunxiaoChu]

@@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648hmm

[@TerryBollinger]

This work shows marvelous precision and impressive mathematical modeling, but given that it’s powered, I cannot fathom what the point is. I was, at the very least, expecting some kind of delocalization over time, yet this instead looks like an emergent _and powered_ oscillation fully embedded in classical spacetime - that is, a vastly more difficult version of the piezoelectric quartz crystal you mentioned, but still fundamentally just that: A powered oscillation. Is it because the oscillators are atomic in scale and plentiful? If so, that’s almost a matter of definition. Are opals crystals? It depends on whether you accept the repetition of units larger than atoms. The earlier record holder sounded even odder since it sure sounded like it was using mundane beat frequencies in fancy-math clothing to drive the system into repetition. What I least understand is this insistence on using power. After all, one pretty good way to understand how liquid helium stays liquid is that the mechanical oscillations created by quantum uncertainty are sufficient to overcome the very weak bonding forced between helium atoms. Such quantum oscillations don’t need power to endure indefinitely. If such persistent, unpowered, uncertainty-based relative atomic motions are real enough to keep liquid helium, why can’t they be real enough to engage in _unpowered_ repeating quantum oscillations over time? For example, when liquid helium is enticed to crystallize using pressure, has anyone checked to make sure that the same virtual oscillations that formerly kept the helium liquid in space have not simultaneously crystallized in time, producing a true, unpowered Wilczek time crystal? Has anyone thought to look?

[@ticthak]

The math would posit the existence of stable time crystals with absolutely no input energy (the oscillation is inherent), but how is it possible to detect and observe such a structure without immediately inducing oscillation, or modulating this "natural" oscillation?

[@TerryBollinger]

@@ticthak that is a very good question, for which I can only make this observation: Since the existence of liquid helium proves that virtual _spatial_ oscillations have profoundly visible and experimentally testable consequences, I can't see any easy reason why the time version of such oscillations in pressure crystallized helium might not also have fully physically and testable implications. I have no idea what those implications would be. For years, I have naively assumed that that's what time crystal research was all about. (Me brain different think?) Thus it came as a sincere surprise to me to find out that this fundamentally sound speculation has devolved mostly into a game of seeing how well you can hide the power source for driving subtle but quite classical oscillations. :)

[@bgsmember3650]

In helium's liquid state, ambient temperature then becomes a source of input energy, perhaps dirtying your experiment.

[@TerryBollinger]

@bgsmember3650 it’s a good point to consider, but a good reason to think that is not the case is that superfluid liquid helium is a type of Bose condensate - a state of matter in which all atoms behave as if they are part of a single quantum state. This collective wave function is so real that rotating superfluid results in the formation of rotational singularities, called quantum vortices, that have no analog in classical mechanics. The other point is that no difference in how close you get to absolute zero on a log scale - one-thousandth of a degree, one-millionth of a degree, one-trillionth of a degree - liquid helium stays liquid. It’s not an effect that depends on heat at any scale

[@NagiSeishirou-il2rr]

​@@bgsmember3650isn't that violating thermodynamics law? As in no work can be driven from an external reservoir indefinitely? You'd be constantly decreasing the universes entropy then?

[@JessWLStuart]

I worked at a place that measured Birefringence using polarized light. I was able to keep up with all of your description! I guess I'm chuffed over that!

[@Runeknight101]

The way the oscillations form the M shape reminds me of the way T-handles process in space when spun.

[@andrewpincombe819]

I understood next to none of that but enjoyed it immensely.I look forward to being equally baffled by your future work.Bravo Dr.Ben

[@CarpeUniversum]

It's like listening to TV in a language I've only been studying for about 6 weeks. I hear words I recognize!

[@lioncaptive]

I find your presentation is extremely interesting and I love it more than just fascinating, witty and occasionally crystals can just bring us together.

[@kevinboles3885]

There are SOOOO many "energies", pretty much all on a quantum-effect scale, that it just SEEMS like there could be something going on that we do not fully understand yet. It could be an unknown energy transfer or effect, minute energy loss in one of the umteen inputs, an uncharacterized quantum effect, etc. It is still INCREDIBLYinteresting. And as you stated, the technical aspects of the experiment are astounding.

[@anoirbentanfous]

Yes, it is like a cascade of energies...

[@KinyoHQ]

Agree these are more like quantum crystals

[@KinyoHQ]

Agree these are more like quantum crystals

[@nannesoar]

2:15 He carries 5 pens in his pen pocket. Now THAT'S impressive.

[@jessen00001]

The Things people are seeing. Impressive

[@jessen00001]

N.B And liking, that's impressive

[@JUSTICEFORPEANUT]

No it's like the equivalent of carrying 5 handguns, it's insane

[@gcewing]

It's a pen crystal.

[@authordent41]

Four ?

[@1crazypj]

Retired motorcycle mechanic, the best part for me was you didn't go into the mathematical side of things which I couldn't understand in school and still don't. For some reason, I'm 'math dyslexic' as soon as a formula appears (at least anything more complicates than Pi ) It may be because I've never needed to work with anything but cylinder capacity and events when building race motors ('pulse tuning intake/exhaust) I'll watch a few more of your video's.

[@jagevt]

Dyscalculia

[@thecsslife]

Whoever came up with these experiments is a mind blowing genius

[@palfers1]

Good job on the explanation. Seems to relate to entanglement and measurement as described by Quanta magazine's article "physicists-observe-unobservable-quantum-phase-transition-20230911"

[@krypton9984]

brilliant video. One of my favourites. This is part of an exploration of time as a dimension which has had a few confirmations from real experiments recently. It shuldn't be surprising but it is. I wonder where it leads.

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

Hang on, though, if your pump laser is circularly polarised doesn't that mean that it's not constant? It's energy may be constant, and its wavelength, but the polarisation could be said to be oscillating, no?

[@WildEngineering]

linear polarized light is actually a superposition of circular polarized light. I think circular is the default state so it feels less cheaty imo

[@uazuazu]

It's oscillating at the frequency of the light, just the same as linearly polarized light does. The circularly polarised light IS constant. If it stopped oscillating it wouldn't be light any more. That oscillation frequency is not related to the oscillation frequency of the time crystal system, as I understood it. It just causes the alignment of the electron spins. The electron spin alignment varies really slowly by comparison (like 7 orders of magnitude slower).

[@shanent5793]

Circularly polarized light has a constant 90° phase difference between the horizontal and vertical polarization components. If the polarization were oscillating then the phase difference would also be oscillating, so light with oscillating polarization is not circularly polarized.

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

@@uazuazu That's a lot of difference between the frequency of the light and the observed oscillation of course. Quite a curious phenomenon.

[@thethree60five]

​@uazuazu Well said, but if anisotropic movement of a mineral as shown by an emerald that can create an AM or FM based wave as a bias to compensate for system loss in a perpetual system, as long as this phased bias has energy provided, they have the in effect a 'perpetual motion machine' by using dark energy by quantumality to compensate for inherent system loss. Satisfying accepted physical laws of matter. Contemplatively... Should one find a way to use quantum physicality laws to provide this from the quantum field into the system as said bias, far beyond perpetually of the time chrystal system is possible. It could act as an energy convertor at a quantum level. Which would be a Heather Thomas level full frontal.😊 As Dr. Miles mentions the concept of subharmonics created, this could possibly be thought of as synchronicities when related to time crystal's maximized sycronnistic output which could be rectified for 'time-energy' output by these 'time harmonies' without 'melting', a collapse of the sustained wave function harmonic structure... of synchronicities. Perception... becomes the measurement.

[@xalaxie]

best description I've seen of this time crystal experiment so far. really really well done and so fascinating. makes me want to try to design experiments!

[@rickwatkins7285]

Being a physical organic chemist, I struggle with some of the physics. However, you explanations are very clear and I love your references to current movie and HHGTHG Galaxy media.

[@ScienceDiscussed]

Great video. Time crystals are a very fun concept.

[@BradPrichard]

You were way off thinking I was smart enough to understand any of this.

[@LowHangingFruitForest]

I can’t find anyone that can explain it to me LOL

[@amanawolf9166]

Same. My background is in Biotechnology and chemistry. This goes way over my head.

[@chaselewis3354]

Guy is speaking at a level 145 IQ and above 😂

[@xrpmoonwolf]

After 1 min of watching I get what you guys are saying 🤣 just look at it like the rosseta stone of time instead of Egyptian language. It just gives us a better understand on how to dephicer the language of time :P. Coming from a construction worker you gotta do better Mr biotech

[@nojakthegemlad]

If you can complete Cat Mario you can do anything

[@phlanxsmurf]

Great video. Really enjoyed the deep dive into the physics, very cool. Thanks!

[@herzogsbuick]

the singing technique is called kargyraa, and is really cool. for a good english language introduction, the documentary Genghis Blues follows a blind American singer named Paul Pena all the way to Tuva to compete in a throat singing competition. one of my favorite movies ever.

[@lemonstealinghorsdoeuvre]

Thumbs up is not enough to show my agreement. The movie is amazing, although that split second clip here shows more about how it's done than Paul groping Kongar's mouth lol

[@fishyerik]

Can you repeat that part where applying a non-uniform flow of energy to something and detecting oscillation in that object is so amazing? I completely missed that part.

[@malvoliosf]

This is interesting but is it odd to have periodic responses to non-periodic inputs? A steady breeze will cause a tree branch to wave back and forth; rubbing your wetted thumb along the rim of a wine glass will cause it to ring.

[@lemonstealinghorsdoeuvre]

The thumb is an oscillating input, it slips and catches randomly but repeated slipping hits a specific time that builds on the peak of the wave in a constant pattern that resonate with the glass. A constant input would not resonate. Those leaves don't all dance in the exact same way when the wind hits a tree, it's not a repeated constant pattern

[@NiceLasers]

This is well explained and I’m excited for future developments

[@johnkarakash]

I'm not 100% certain why 'eternal' time crystals are required. Crystals are bounded in space, why not time?

[@pestypig]

This paper is particularly hard to read for me but thanks to this video I can start to dissect all these referencing words into a basic timeline! Thank you dr

[@doublepinger]

That shape of signal can be pretty common in programming, if you overflow your integer! The best intuitive guess would be there's a stable "anti-wave" / "echo" / "reflection" of oscillations, which isn't really surprising if you consider if there's a time oscillation, there first stable state is no oscillation, the second stable state is the lowest harmonic moving in + and - directions.

[@earlchapman37]

Crystal substrate constraining the stable infrastructure, might be requiring a lighter laser and a heavier refractory to level the impedance without phase interference. Its like we have to hear it more quietly so we don't disturb it.

[@2flight]

Great video. I don't know if the experiment was accurate, but your video really explained what time crystals are and how hard it is to measure one.

[@cameronwhite2227]

layperson here with what might be a dumb question. It seems like one of the criteria for being a 'time crystal' is that the oscillation needs to come from the crystal itself. This is why we are not impressed by quarts because its oscillation is 'downstream' of the input power due to the piezoelectric effect In this experiment, it seems like all the observed oscillation is 'downstream' of the oscillating polarization from the input laser. Is the crystal not just applying some elaborate transformation to an existing oscillation? It still seems like the primary oscillation still comes from the laser and could be used directly without the crystal for timekeeping

[@lemonstealinghorsdoeuvre]

The polarity shifts in a repeated pattern over time, causing the output on the laser used for measuring to oscillate in the same pattern. Normally, light is only shifted in polarity, it doesn't have an oscillating shift. If you mean the initial input laser, if you remember, the magnetic field held the alignment in an initial state, then that laser gave the alignment a uniform direction with a uniform force applied throughout.

[@noisepuppet]

Watched this at 2x speed and then went to the basement and constructed my own experimental device. Results confirmed! Thanks!

[@zaneenaz4962]

When language is used to describe behavior of matter on the far ends of the scale, the deficiencies may become a hindrance to our understanding. Language of math just appears more pure, but again is limited because it leaves little room for imagination. Crazy how we come up with new concepts to mark new territories of exploration. Great Video !!

[@MinusMedley]

Great coverage, I also admitted defeat to the perpetual energy machine during my magnetic v-gate days. The idea of creating a constant imbalance is just not possible, they all eventually come to stand still.

[@matveyshishov]

Finally I understand what the whole fuzz is about. Thank you!

[@seanpreston3653]

harmonics should be able to alter these crystals in there manufacture. Sound has been eliminated from physics, incorporate sound frequencies then do your physics. aka resonances

[@seanpreston3653]

resonance freq. are the key to all knowledge! Everything makes a sound. everything. altho most have not been heard. The sun is white not yellow. consider that as a reference.

[@trent_carter]

And every object above absolute zero emits photons with a wavelength relative to their temperature. (Black body radiation)

[@seanpreston3653]

math, light, sound is what your need

[@seanpreston3653]

sound is the key aka frequencies, basically light and sound are key

[@Nailnuke]

I'm struggling. I thought a time crystal oscilated independent of an input ? Isn't a constant laser input cheating & why is reducibg the temperature not an introduction of energy, albeit negative. Just asking ! (I'm not in any way a scientist).

[@Kevin_Street]

I think it's impossible for anything to change without some change in the energy of the system. That's why he said time crystals get close to (but are not) perpetual motion machines. The oscillation is powered by the laser, but when the input is constant it shows that the oscillation isn't caused by the laser. It's an inherent property of the crystal itself, using some of the beam energy to oscillate in time. Reducing the temperature is setting the stage for the experiment. It happens before the experiment begins and so long as that temperature is held constant, isn't a factor in what's occurring.

[@Armadous]

This was also not obvious to me. It seems uninteresting for the purpose of a time crystal if the crystal oscillates as a function of the properties of the laser.

[@bgsmember3650]

Dude who made the video is spot on. With a quartz watch, an electric circuit is the source of occillation and the crystal itself merely acts as resonator (to accentuate the desired part of the frequency). From Wiki.. "The electronic circuit is an oscillator, an amplifier whose output passes through the quartz resonator. The resonator acts as an electronic filter, eliminating all but the single frequency of interest." With the time crystral experiment, the laser input doesn't occillate. The source of the occillation is now the crystal's atomic structure itself, which is something different and new.@@Armadous

[@Armadous]

@@bgsmember3650I guess as a layperson, it's hard to understand that a laser isn't an oscillation source when everything about it is in terms of wavelengths of light. It doesn't follow in my mind that an energy source with a frequency imparts no frequency on the crystal.

[@lemonstealinghorsdoeuvre]

You guys pretty much get it. It's to do with alignment for the initial laser and measuring for the second laser. The magnet initially locks the crystal into alignment, giving a universal starting position that the laser then gives an equal constant push to. Imagine you have waterwheel mills all along a riverbank, but there are eddie's and still points. Each of the wheels have to have slightly different angles to best utilize the flow now imagine you lift all the mills up and align the axis of each parallel to each other. That's the magnet now imagine you no longer have the river, but a torrent of water comes at a constant speed in a constant direction, that's the laser. If the mills are all exactly similar, they all will react in the same way. When the flood is done, it's not gradual, it's abrupt and leaves the mills exactly the same. The difference between the expectation and the time crystal is that there is no friction to degrade the millwheels, so the pattern of the wheels repeat until an outward force changes them. Another way to look at it is the electron cloud is random. Then a magnet pulls the electron down with a thread and the resistance to return to motion is a rubber band. The laser comes and cuts all the threads exactly the same, making the electrons all bounce around on that rubber band exactly the same way with a repeated time period before it bounces the exact direction off the exact point that was the starting point. That's the oscillation time.

[@noprivacyleft]

Great video. Thanks for making, and you just got a new subscriber here. It does leave me with some basic undergrad level questions: 1. I don't understand why such an "impossible time crystal" is considered to structurally vary in time rather than as just exhibiting a new type of very low frequency strain energy vibration induced by much higher frequency inputs. Newly discovered perhaps, but why is anybody calling it "impossible"? It's not like any atoms are changing relative positions within the crystal lattice over time is it? just spin states. 2. I don't understand how any input energy can be said to be non-oscillating. Splitting and/or combining polarized light into orthogonal polarized beams in which the total input power is not oscillating does not eliminate the oscillating nature of the input energy except perhaps semantically. All light is oscillating by the nature of having a wavelength, except perhaps a pulse shorter than it's own wavelength, which I'm not sure is even a thing. One can certainly induce harmonic vibration with a much higher frequency driving input. How can one say this "time crystal" oscillation is induced by a non-oscillating input? 3. Other than being a newly recognized mode of surprisingly slow oscillation that is very hard to understand or measure, are the oscillations of an "impossible time crystal" fundamentally different from vibrations in strain energy of less exotic materials? The slow oscillations are certainly amazing and weird and the engineering of the experimental apparatus is very clever, but I don't see how the results reveal anything fundamentally new to physics. A ringing bell is oscillating in density over time. Any spring material that vibrates experiences changes in density over time while vibrating, where strain energy and inertial forces are in a feedback loop which repeats at a frequency determined by the harmonic properties of the dynamic system that the spring material is a part of. Analogously, can it be said that vibrations of these "time crystals" is strain energy and lattice-spin energy in a feedback loop which repeats at a frequency determined by the dynamic lattice spin harmonics of the crystal lattice? In other words, can it be said that the equilibrium bond spacing between atoms act like springs and the spin state feedback effects act like dampers with extremely low energy losses, resulting in long duration oscillation at the observed frequency? Thanks in advance to anyone who even half-way replies to any of that.

[@angelmendez-rivera351]

1. Crystal are actually defined in terms of their structure, which includes their spin, varying periodically in space. If some non-structural feature varies periodically, then it is not actually a crystal. Similarly, a time crystal is defined analogously, but with variation in time. It would be a huge misnomer to use the name "time crystal" to refer to what you are talking about, since there is nothing crystal-esque about non-structural features varying periodically (not that it is even clear that this actually can be achieved without periodic structural variations anyway). Also, the name "impossible" is being used to describe time crystals in dynamic equilibrium, which, as stated in the video, are genuinely truly impossible (by the No-Go Theorem). The time crystals recreated in the lab do not fall in the same category, because they are not in dynamic equilibrium. 2. You said "splitting and/or combining polarized light into orthogonal polarized beams in which the total input power is not oscillating does not eliminate the oscillating nature of the input energy." This is incorrect: it actually does eliminate the oscillations in the energy. The only thing that is actually oscillating is the electromagnetic field itself, not the energy density it carries. You can prove this just by taking the electromagnetic field of monochromatic plane waves and computing the energy density from it. The energy density depends on the amplitude of the wave, but as long as the amplitude itself is a constant (which it is for a laser), the energy density is constant too. This is a characterizing feature of lasers, and it differs from other forms of radiation, in which the amplitude itself is a function of time, and therefore, so is the energy density. The distinction is analogous to the difference between direct current and alternating currents. _All currents_ are caused by periodic oscillations in the electric charge density across the wire, but direct currents are non-oscillating, whereas alternating currents are oscillating. The fact that the electric charge density itself is oscillating is irrelevant: we are not concerning ourselves with the electric charge density variations, especially as measuring them directly is nearly impossible anyway. 3. He explained in the video why a ringing bell is not an example of a time crystal, and not of any interest to the research in question. _Any material_ can experience vibrations, but those vibrations are not intrinsic properties of the material, unless we are discussing time-crystal, in which case, the characteristics properties of the material are sufficient to predict all vibrations it will undergo given a constant energy input. This is different than a resonance phenomenon, which _any_ material can experience, provided the energy input is non-constant and oscillates.

[@morgan0]

now i’m curious about future attempts to explain this, especially if simulations could be pared down to a small number of elements for an inaccurate model but a very interesting oscillator. as an audio tech person with an interest in feedback systems, i’m very curious how this works

[@Mastervitro]

There is so much to learn about low heat nuclear reactions as well, that too many don't take seriously!

[@greedowins]

Satisfyingly just over my head. I appreciate that you keep the most interesting science in the conversation, even for something with little basis for intuition like time crystals. Clear you are a bonefide expert on this subject, and as a good communicator, it is a true public service that you share your expertise with your audience.

[@ptorq]

Why does a time crystal need to last forever? We don't insist that a "normal" crystal must be infinite (or even semi-infinite), we're perfectly happy with declaring that this object right here is a crystal but it has a definite location in space; why can't we say that a time crystal only needs to have a definite location in time? (i.e. "this time crystal measures 1.1 mm along the x axis, 1.25 mm along the y axis, 1.07 mm along the z axis, and 4.2 months along the tau axis" or whatever.)

[@Akya2120]

I love that the profoundness of an experiment, theory, or creation is typically never understood until long after the discovery is made. There is plenty of math that models some physical phenomenon that we have no knowledge of, and it's application is completely life altering. But at the end of the day, we have to connect the dots to make it all work. One day, there will exist a use case for time crystals that we couldn't imagine life without. Now, we can hardly imagine what a time crystal could be used for. I vote for creating a power supply from time crystals. That way it will continue to provide power for all time 😉

[@matthewhollick5397]

The way you describe stuff is awesome. Thank you for this and the rick and morty reference.

[@garyknight8966]

Motivated by metal crystals, where conduction electrons are really a macroscopic 'orbital', but happy to see this experiment possible in a doped semiconductor, I was thinking the unique 'remote ordering' (as opposed to remote heating) creates a distributed magnetic gyroscope. When you described the pump laser I was already thinking of the poynting-vector directed optical B field (circularly polarized) and how it must undertake to magnetize locally, with counter-mmf forces setting up the conditions of an oscillator. The addition of a bias to knock out chaos reminded me of early experiments on grid bias in vacuum tubes and added circuitry to offset interelectrode capacitances with their parasitic oscillations. With the bias present, I can't help wondering if the periodic lesser dips are a form of echo, as in a 'nidation' of the precessing gyroscope, where now the nidation frequency matches the precession, but pi out of phase. Just thinking aloud, as I suppose the authors might have been tempted to do but wisely demurred. ;-}

[@mauroylospichiruchis544]

this is so well explained that i almost understood it. great video

[@sethh2o]

Pretty cool to be able to measure something that cant be seen. Being able to see fields changing without actually seeing them.

[@fredrikfarkas]

Dithering comes to mind, a technique used in audio engineering that adds noise to gain even more clarity, kind of like inverted noise ending up cancelling noise by its random nature. In terms of observation maybe this technique could lessen the need for adding another laser to the system, and rather treating the output..? Also, the thing about measuring draining energy from the system was really cleverly counteracted by measuring spillover from what drives the system!

[@BiswajitBhattacharjee-up8vv]

As you have rightly said in such system of experiments a harmonic motion could have multiple source and n- harmonic even from sea shore 😀. Seeing another dimension as desired under a magnetic polarized angle is good zeeMann factor . If we take for simplicity that an LS couple nano crystal have a spilling over time sequence, as desired for long time crystal ,yet to established. But you and the team have made a good efforts to have a time crystal . Concept to realisation is a significant saga to tell. Having little exposure to the lab and subjects open a window of smile for me.

[@trent_carter]

“So there’s always this fun game that happens within the laser lab of how do you work with the basically invisible near instant death Laser?” Dr Ben Miles Coffee spit out

[@TheSockMonkeyGuy]

Okay, so I just watched Dr. Miles' video about creating the first active deflector shield, and then I watched this one about time crystals. So it seems obvious to this layman that one practical application of time crystals would be in the creation of a practical deflector shield. Just don't ask me how the two could be used together... 🤔 Anyway, I really appreciate Dr. Miles' ability to explain complex subjects.

[@tomholroyd7519]

Thank you! Finally! Someone who actually knows what a time crystal is!

[@Critical-Thinker895]

Then explain to me why a time crystal is needed.

[@GrabnarMyers]

Yeah i wanna know why I time crystal is needed too

[@angelmendez-rivera351]

@@Critical-Thinker895 Who said it's needed?

[@angelmendez-rivera351]

@@GrabnarMyers Nobody said time crystals ae needed.

[@3ddesigns220]

​@@Critical-Thinker895It's needed to fund those expensive lasers.

[@jlfqam]

G. Flim only demonstrated he could maintain a magnetic field in He(l). In fact when the SC loop is closed, any current stops and only a magnetic field remains while temperature is low. That field can induce currents in a Amp meter, a connected circuit, etc, and pull the magnetized needle of the compass, just that.

[@douglasperry8211]

Full Frontal Physics and they have a picture of Einstein in shorts. Absolutely hilarious on so many levels!

[@us2ra]

crystal clear explanation, excellent job, great video, engaging performance wow!

[@DataRae-AIEngineer]

Very interesting as always, Dr. Ben. And a hat-tip to your animator who seemed to emphasize that the time crystal graph looked like batman, or maybe that was just me.

[@kendemajoros4617]

What a great explanation. I ALMOST understood. Q on the subtraction step - if the measurement by the probing laser is based on one direction of polarization being slowed down, won’t that offset the ambient noise of the two polarizations in time enough to yield a false result by the subtraction?

[@derekwood8184]

Interesting.. definitely interesting, thank you for going to the effort of explaining this.. as an Radio R&D engineer, I'm strugging to FULLY grasp this (the experiment I could follow, nice trick cancelling out the systematic errors)... I need to read up on spin... again, I assume we're talking about quantum mechanical spin here.. which is really weird. Uses, not enough data to tell yet.. at least not for timing purposes, timing is all about size, power and accuracy.. how could one interface to such a crystal?.. it's all very well that it oscillates.. but to keep track of those oscillations one needs to interface to it constantly and that means power transfer, one way or the other, which sort of defeats the object.. it feels like this in an effect that would be useful to some edge of physics type application, but that's beyond my pay grade.

[@shanent5793]

It's observed through the phase shift of the probe laser, which in principle isn't transferring any power. For example you can tell the difference between glass and fluorite by observing the polarization and without having to melt them with the light source

[@edwardhunia6315]

A time crystal is a perpetual motion system... Look: I know the early history of the qtc quantum time crystal...Back in 2010 in moodle chat operating for student lecturer discussion, a student raised the point that the earth sun system is a perpetual motion system because work must be done to shift the planet to the perihelion since there is a change in potential energy due to a radial change (Wilczek may have been there or caught wind of the discussion). Wilczek 's work on qtc devoloped a ground state ring of moving particles. I believe his work requires a theoretical partical with attractive properties to form his infered coalescing into the state ground state ring of moing particles. I think the work was lazy as it doesn't demonstrate how the forces do indeed coalesce into a ring with the stated ground state function. Tongcang Li et al proposed a more realistic model but it too relied on a radial state change which was detectable through their tagged particle -(I think they called it). around 2015 I think was the first proposed qtc model that flipped magnetic state... I stopped following developments at this stage due to shifting homes to Rotavagas.

[@johnjohnson798]

I'd love to see you do a video on polariton condensates and how they can trap light within the condensate.

[@lasagnahog7695]

Well this is the first time I've had even a sliver of understanding as to what a time crystal is.

[@ascensionenergetics85]

The crystal oscillation chart you showed looked more like EM waves of a heartbeat than a sine wave.

[@jessen00001]

Awesome ❤🎉 Thanks for this great content 😊

[@seanpreston3653]

resonances have to be explored more. we go on sight only atm lets go further.

[@TheSoltesz]

If I heard correctly, we use a power source to start it up and if it keeps oscillating forever, after we cut the power, it's a time crystal. Eventhough it only oscillates for less than a second(not forever). And, we can only measure it by firing a laser at it. Isn't that adding power to the system to keep the oscillation going?

[@twobob]

We leave the details of making this actually useful as an exercise for the reader... Good talk

[@dabartos4713]

If nothing else the science fiction people will have things to write about.

[@TropicalCoder]

So obviously the M shaped waveform is composed of a number of different frequencies. It would have been interesting if you ran that through an FFT to see what the dominant frequencies are and what is the source of them.

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

To the Bat-oscillator, Robin

[@Adam-w7y4s]

In a similar conecpt to what you just stated .. I used to work as an electronics engineer with a really smart guy who was leaving engineering to become a doctor. I asked him what his ambitions were and said to him how fantastic it would be if he could apply his real time signal analysis and phase plane knowledge on systems to things like the heart beats of cardiac patients to predict heart attacks in advance etc etc He replied that he just wanted to be a GP ...!!!!! My brain exploded at that point and i was think WTF ????

[@trent_carter]

Wouldn’t that be an inverse FFT?

[@TropicalCoder]

@@trent_carter An inverse FFT takes data in the frequency domain and outputs data in the time domain. In this case we have the time domain data and want the frequency distribution, hence a normal FFT.

[@GothAlice]

My practical idea: it's difficult enough (read: not actually possible) to synchronize independent timers accurately, e.g. traffic lights not centrally controlled. A time crystal, oscillating a property which commutes over an ER bridge (read: quantum entanglement), could provide that impossible synchronization. Instantly. Over any distance. [I may have been a civil engineer obsessed with this problem in a past life. Just the temperature difference from one intersection's switch box to another intersection's would cause their internal R-C/555 (or crystal) timers to rapidly de-synchronize.]

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

Easier to provide a crystal oven, no?

[@GothAlice]

That's, ironically, the problem. Thermal expansion induces electromechanical property changes, e.g. varying the capacitance or resistance of a capacitor or resistor, vital components of "555 timer" circuits. These regulate the frequency of the pulses, which are counted to indicate the passage of time. If these change… the rate of time passing changes, at least, according to the device. (And yes, providing a "consistent temperature oven" could be a theoretical solution, but a poor one from an efficiency and loss perspective. 😜) Similar issue, though less pronounced, with quartz crystal timers. These can still go out by a few seconds over the course of a month due to these environmental factors. Your computer keeps its internal crystal oscillator "in time" using Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers to calculate drift, and locally adjust. (Central coordination somewhat resolves the issue of independent timers, by not being independent.)@@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648

[@drdca8263]

This sounds like it would conflict with the no communication theorem about entanglement?

[@GothAlice]

Non-locality has been demonstrated through "Bell tests", though absolutely there currently are some silly (read: extreme) limitations on the durability of the message carriers (entangled atoms or photons) and viable range. In 2022, a team produced entangled rubidium atoms and achieved communication for "device-independent quantum key distribution" up to 400m separation. (July 28 Nature) A third study shortly after (July 29 Physical Review Letters) achieved 220m with photons. (They aren't as stable.) @@drdca8263

[@Michaelfrikkie]

Therefore sequence = time... What you need to ask is why we observe and experience the time-crystal by observing repeated sequences unique to the crystal...

[@Daimo83]

KLINGON TIME CRYSTALS! On Boreth. Where Worf went in TNG but never mentioned! Great writing.

[@bpark10001]

Laser pump energy is oscillating! How do you know that there is not some sort of "beating" taking place? Regarding second time constants in atomic action, consider a chemical NMR, where substances are held in ALMOST perfectly uniform magnetic field. When the exciting RF is removed, the atoms get out of time because they are in slightly different fields. Even though they are oscillating at 60MHz, a fraction of 1 PPM of field causes them to stop reinforcing, then cancel, then reinforce again with periods spanning multiple seconds. I used this to judge the quality of the field uniformity.

[@babyoda1973]

Time syncing at any distance 😮

[@krakraen343]

CHAOS CONTROL

[@thetaphi]

I'll need to parse the paper and refs for a while, but the first question that popped up in my mind was whether or how the periodicity of the effect depends on crystal dimensions. This is the kind of thing that could be useless, shove caesium off its second defining throne, or clue us in to some field effects that we need new math for. But I think they could have used more lasers.

[@macbitz]

So they're called "time crystals" because they exhibit a repeating pattern in time, similar to how regular crystals have a repeating pattern in space, and not because they manipulate or affect time as we experience it.

[@Taliysin]

Put one of those outside of our gravity well and see how it operates. Put it up to half the speed of light on a spaceship and compare it after the fact, the one left behind. Would be super interested to know the readings of something like that moving that relatively fast

[@angelwhite376]

Would a time crystal give of light forever if so Wow

[@local-admin]

Thanks for your breakdown!

[@Luxcium]

🤔 10:42 ChatGPT here 👋🏼 In the context of the Kelvin scale, the term "degrees" is not technically used. The correct terminology is simply "kelvins." So, when referring to a temperature on this scale, you would say "6 kelvins" (6 K) instead of "6 degrees Kelvin." The Kelvin scale is the base unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), and it is widely used in the scientific community for its ability to work with absolute zero as its starting point.

[@jaysonp9426]

Dude, this explanation is 🔥

[@HaveYouTriedGuillotines]

If you've ever worked with an FM synthesizer with a graphical representation of the final waveform, you'll probably recognize the general reason for both the odd period, and the shape of the oscillation: It's the product of oscillations modifying other oscillations in some way, and combining to make a single unique cycle. The long cycle of the waveform is because the combined oscillations of the system take that long before they produce a cycle of the entire system. Here's a thought: In theory, if you could somehow constrain an isolated system in such a way that the number of ways that the system can progress into a less orderly state is equal or lower than the number of ways it can progress into a more orderly state, you could in fact produce a perpetual motion machine. I think the reason the oscillation of the system lasts for as long as it does is because the conditions of this experiment heavily reduce the number of ways the system can progress towards disorder, meaning this experiment is actually pushing in the direction of perpetual motion, and thus a proper time crystal. Of course, whether one could ever create a system that crosses the aforementioned threshold on an infinite scale across time is questionable (of course it would be, _you're effectively proposing to solve entropy_ ), and harvesting any kind of energy from such a system would require you cross that threshold pretty heavily, as the system would need to not just maintain oscillation in equilibrium but return to that state after being disturbed by whatever method you're using to extract energy from it. Time crystals fascinate me because I believe perpetual motion is actually possible, it's just not something that easily forms in nature, and we haven't cracked the material science to force it to happen yet. I suspect if and when we do crack it, the experiment that provides the solution will occur on an atomic or subatomic scale, and I suspect the experiment may also incorporate chemical engineering to create a very niche material with very specific behavior, not unlike this one.

[@echoscope4278]

Harmonics, end harmonics. I think ironically, there's a lot to learn from how the resonant qualities of the internal structure relate to musical tones. There seems to be a very clear parallel and perhaps some light to be shed on the fact that what you're doing in essence is tuning the crystal by way of altering the structure. I personally would want to in add vertices in some virtual or theoretical way to the structure, maybe in the same sense that when two musical tones are played together they create a third tone as a result of what I want to say is "sympathetic resonance" , but could go deeper than that where you actually have a measurable wave form. Either way I wouldn't let that stop you from working with a theoretical framework that is perceived rather than measured. You still might find some anomalies that have a degree of control before they get all whacked out.

[@elongatedmusk3132]

That's pretty dope

[@LordSandwichII]

"Time Crystal" sounds like something straight out of a video game.

[@upandatom]

So fascinating :)

[@DrBenMiles]

👋

[@PaulDriverPlus]

Why do time crystals always make my head ache and my nose bleed? Just the idea of crystalized time alone gives me a headache. I'm going to the hospital now, I think Dr Ben broke something in my head.

[@Relkond]

On one hand - it’s neat things happening. On the other hand, you’re still feeding it a steady diet of tuned light from an external source. You’re tuning-fork is sitting on a speaker, as it were, and the speaker is playing a constant tone.

[@MartijndeGraaf1001]

what understand of it is that the oscillation is not a function of the laser

[@Relkond]

@@MartijndeGraaf1001 maybe a better analogy would be holding a ball in the stream of air released from a vaccuum on reverse. As long as the air flows, the air will actually pull the ball up to the outlet - even if the immediately obvious interactions suggest the opposite should occur - you could even jigger up devices to extract energy from the ball, and it would remain in place. The science may be neat, sure, but it still has the key element of a perpetual motion machine: the battery.

[@cuisinart7899]

The experimenters need to turn off the measurement laser for a period of time and then on, to see if the phase or other properties of the oscillation have been perturbed.

[@Jacobk-g7r]

Oh my lord, this is something we need.

[@mlefe09]

Really good video, good job! 👍

[@c2sartinkprinthub757]

I love this post its the clearest and most detailed presentation I've seen, but using laser and magnetic field to stabilized the system is a let down. A 6.9 cycle is a very very slow combine the strategy of dumping the different of the output as noise may lead to questions.. Overall this is great.. thanks