Robust continuous time crystal in an electron–nuclear spin system

In our recent publication: “Robust continuous time crystal in an electron–nuclear spin system” published in Nature Physics 20, 631-636 (2024), we demonstrate the solution for one of the two long-standing fundamental problems in the time evolution of the electron-nuclear spin system in semiconductors – observation of strange attractor. The electron and nuclear spins form a nonlinear, strongly interacting dissipative system that, in a particular case, can create auto-oscillations that can be potentially periodic or chaotic. The latter regime has never been observed so far, and the former is the basis for a time crystal, which spontaneously breaks the translational invariance in time.

These findings are of significant interest to the scientific community as they revive the studies of nonlinear dynamic regimes, both in the periodic and chaotic regimes, that are not only of fundamental importance but could also find applications in quantum information technology. The robust time crystal hardware will allow insights into novel phases of matter, e.g., by exposing it to external modulation. In fact, due to the versatility of the studied system, it could become an appealing testbed for nonlinear systems that can be found in many fields, not only physics but also biology, geology, metrology, etc.