Stochastic Discrete Time Crystals: Entropy Production and Subharmonic Synchronization

Lukas Oberreiter, Udo Seifert, and Andre C. Barato
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 020603 – Published 15 January 2021
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Abstract

Discrete time crystals are periodically driven systems that display spontaneous symmetry breaking of time translation invariance in the form of indefinite subharmonic oscillations. We introduce a thermodynamically consistent model for a discrete time crystal and analyze it using the framework of stochastic thermodynamics. In particular, we evaluate the rate of energy dissipation of this many-body system of interacting noisy subharmonic oscillators in contact with a heat bath. The mean-field model displays the phenomenon of subharmonic synchronization, which corresponds to collective subharmonic oscillations of the individual units. The 2D model does not display synchronization but it does show a time-crystalline phase, which is characterized by a power-law behavior of the number of coherent subharmonic oscillations with system size. This result demonstrates that the emergence of coherent oscillations is possible even in the absence of synchronization.

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  • Received 17 February 2020
  • Revised 24 June 2020
  • Accepted 22 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.020603

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Lukas Oberreiter1, Udo Seifert1, and Andre C. Barato2

  • 1II. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA

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Vol. 126, Iss. 2 — 15 January 2021

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