Two years ago, this was supposed to be impossible.
Using Google's quantum computer, a team of researchers from Stanford and Google has created and observed a new phase of matter; known as a Time Crystal. This post covers Time Crystal and Google's Sycamore chip.
In condensed matter physics, a time crystal is a quantum system of particles whose lowest-energy state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion. The system cannot lose energy to the environment and come to rest because it is already in its quantum ground state. Because of this, the motion of the particles does not really represent kinetic energy like other motion; it has "motion without energy".
“Time-crystals are a striking example of a new type of non-equilibrium quantum phase of matter,” said Vedika Khemani, assistant professor of physics at Stanford and a senior author of the paper.
“The big picture is that we are taking the devices that are meant to be the quantum computers of the future and thinking of them as complex quantum systems in their own right,” said Matteo Ippoliti, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford and co-lead author of the work.
“Instead of computation, we’re putting the computer to work as a new experimental platform to realize and detect new phases of matter.”
“Time-crystals are a striking example of a new type of non-equilibrium quantum phase of matter,” said Vedika Khemani, assistant professor of physics at Stanford and a senior author of the paper. “While much of our understanding of condensed matter physics is based on equilibrium systems, these new quantum devices are providing us a fascinating window into new non-equilibrium regimes in many-body physics.”
The original document : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04257-w
Additional information about Time Crystals and new phase of mater.