Critical Time Crystals in Dipolar Systems

Understand

We analyze the quantum dynamics of periodically driven, disordered systems in the presence of long-range interactions.

• Focusing on the stability of discrete time crystalline (DTC) order in such systems, we use a perturbative procedure to evaluate its lifetime.
• For 3D systems with dipolar interactions, we show that the corresponding decay is parametrically slow, implying that robust, long-lived DTC order can be obtained.
• We further predict a sharp crossover from the stable DTC regime into a regime where DTC order is lost, reminiscent of a phase transition.