Google, the same firm you ask your every doubt to, has now answers for the question, most people don’t even strike to ask. Google put the impossible notions of the science or physics into work, that possibly defied the Newton’s first law of motion & thermodynamics’ second law, unearthing time-crystals inside a quantum computer for the first time in the history of human-kind, it claims.
But what does it mean generally to the world and to us? Down-gearing the top-level quantum physics to a layman’s view of understanding, here in this article.
Quantum Computing
Before understanding time-crystals, take a sip of quantum computing (computers), to have a better understanding. Quantum computing, involving quantum mechanics, is an advanced level of computing done in conventional computers, that has the capability of solving perplexing problems in just a matter of time. Off the record, it could do the computing within just 200 seconds, that would require 10,000 years in a normal i5 /i7 computer. That’s the power of quantum computers.
Quantum computers embody ‘qubits’, quantum-bits that holds the possibility of manipulating both 0s & 1s simultaneously, unlike a logical bit, resulting out only either in 1s or 0s.
To have a better understanding about quantum-computing, its need and applications, read this.
Google’s Quantum computers having Time-crystals in it
Researchers at Google in collaboration with physicists at Stanford, Princeton and other universities say that they have used Google’s quantum computer to demonstrate a genuine “time crystal”, a preprint posted online explains.
Time crystals, a quantum system of particles whose lowest-energy state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion, Wikipedia would say. Logically, a time crystal is an object whose parts move in a regular, repeating cycle, sustaining this constant change without burning out any energy.
Consider a clock, with its hand rotating in a regular cyclic period, as it drains out the energy of a battery. What if, a clock has no battery, but does its job infinitely! That’s what time crystals mean. Now, again read the above para.
Time-crystals are a new set of matter (like solid, liquid, gas & plasma), that has strived to exist for years, since its commence in 2012, by prediction of a physicist Frank Wilczek.
Defying the Science Laws
Equilibrium
The time crystal, being a new category of phases of matter, is discrete from all other known phases, like water or ice, entailing ‘out-of-equilibrium’ phase. It has order and perfect stability despite being in an excited and evolving state.
Generally, equilibrium is a concept, wherein a matter adjusts itself with the surroundings until the properties of both matter & surroundings becomes the same. In this case, ice melts & reaches the temperature of the atmosphere to achieve thermal equilibrium. But here, time crystal retains at that elevated state, not falling for equilibrium. Henceforth, time-crystal ice would be ice, even if held outside of your freezer – a concept that is a bit difficult to imagine.
“This is just this completely new and exciting space that we’re working in now,” said Vedika Khemani, a condensed matter physicist now at Stanford who co-discovered the novel phase while she was a graduate student and co-authored the new paper with the Google team.
Second law of Thermodynamics – Entropy
Thermodynamics Second law states that there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state. This could also be referred as when and if there is a conversion of energy occurring, there would always be certain amount of energy dissipated as heat / waste. This disorderliness is called entropy and over the processes entropy increases.
Futuristic time-crystal is the weird element in physics as it doesn’t give off energy when it changes state. “The result is incredible; you are escaping the second law of thermodynamics’,” confirms Rodrich Mosner, co-author of the study and director of the Max Planck Institute.
Applications of time-crystals
Time-crystals have great potential for practical applications. They could be used to improve current atomic clock technology—complex timepieces that keep the most accurate time that we can possibly achieve. They could also improve technology such as gyroscopes, and systems that rely on atomic clocks, such as GPS.
Now researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Weizmann Institute in Israel found that theoretically you can create a system that combines time crystals with so-called topological superconductors.
“Something that’s as stable as this is unusual, and special things become useful.” Roderich Moessner.
Superconductivity will fortune a world with no needs of batteries and could harvest power generation to the optimum, and time-crystals aid in that field of science.
Read more about Superconductivity!
However, Google itself is unsure of the claim, if it could be experimentally feasible, as it just compared with peers’ work to accomplish a time crystal theoretically. Resurrecting an impossible thing, could also make it work in the reality world, so called in Future.!
Know more about time-crystals here!
