Quantum Time Crystals and Interacting Chiral Gauge Theories in Atomic BECs III: Role of the Page-Wootters mechanism

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a chiral soliton model, linked via the Page-Wootters mechanism, can produce a genuine quantum time crystal at smaller atom numbers by comparing it with exact numerical solutions.

Contribution

It establishes a connection between a chiral soliton model and quantum time crystals through the Page-Wootters mechanism, enabling dynamical evolution in the quantum ground state.

Findings

Chiral soliton model can produce quantum time crystals at smaller atom numbers.

The Page-Wootters mechanism links the model to exact solutions.

Dynamical evolution occurs in the quantum ground state.

Abstract

We build the case that our published chiral soliton model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 250402 (2019)] can lead to a genuine quantum time crystal for smaller atom numbers. To do this we compare results from the chiral soliton model with exact numerical solutions for the ground state of the three-particle Schr\"odinger equation in the limit that the spatial profile of the soliton is largely independent of its center-of-mass motion. The connection between the two approaches is found via the Page-Wootters mechanism, and this is what allows for dynamical evolution even in the quantum ground state, as required for a genuine quantum time crystal.