Observation of Discrete-Time-Crystal Signatures in an Ordered Dipolar Many-Body System

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of discrete time crystal signatures in an ordered dipolar nuclear magnetic resonance system, demonstrating DTC behavior beyond previously studied platforms and analyzing factors affecting its coherence.

Contribution

It presents the first NMR observation of DTC signatures in an ordered spatial crystal and introduces a novel DTC echo experiment to probe system coherence.

Findings

DTC signatures observed in an ordered dipolar NMR system

Interactions during pulses affect DTC signal decay

Novel DTC echo experiment developed for coherence measurement

Abstract

A discrete time crystal (DTC) is a robust phase of driven systems that breaks the discrete time translation symmetry of the driving Hamiltonian. Recent experiments have observed DTC signatures in two distinct systems. Here we show nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) observations of DTC signatures in a third, strikingly different system: an ordered spatial crystal. We use a novel DTC echo experiment to probe the coherence of the driven system. Finally, we show that interactions during the pulse of the DTC sequence contribute to the decay of the signal, complicating attempts to measure the intrinsic lifetime of the DTC.