Observation of a many-body-localized discrete time crystal with a programmable spin-based quantum simulator

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of a many-body-localized discrete time crystal using a programmable spin-based quantum simulator with $^{13}$C nuclear spins in diamond, demonstrating long-lived order and robustness.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental realization of a many-body-localized discrete time crystal using a novel solid-state spin quantum simulator.

Findings

Observation of long-lived spatiotemporal order characteristic of DTCs

Robustness of the DTC phase for generic initial states

Confirmation of an out-of-equilibrium Floquet phase of matter

Abstract

The discrete time crystal (DTC) is a recently discovered phase of matter that spontaneously breaks time-translation symmetry. Disorder-induced many-body-localization is required to stabilize a DTC to arbitrary times, yet an experimental investigation of this localized regime has proven elusive. Here, we observe the hallmark signatures of a many-body-localized DTC using a novel quantum simulation platform based on individually controllable $^{13}$C nuclear spins in diamond. We demonstrate the characteristic long-lived spatiotemporal order and confirm that it is robust for generic initial states. Our results are consistent with the realization of an out-of-equilibrium Floquet phase of matter and establish a programmable quantum simulator based on solid-state spins for exploring many-body physics.