World’s first linked time crystal could supercharge quantum computers

European researchers at Aalto University in Finland have, for the first time, successfully connected a time crystal to an external system, marking a significant breakthrough in quantum technology. Time crystals are a novel phase of matter proposed by Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek, characterized by perpetual motion in their lowest energy state without energy input. Previously, time crystals had only been observed in isolated quantum systems, but the Aalto team demonstrated that a time crystal formed from magnons in a superfluid helium-3 environment can interact with a mechanical oscillator. This connection allowed them to adjust the time crystal’s properties, a feat not achieved before. The experiment involved pumping magnons—quasiparticles behaving like individual particles—into the superfluid cooled near absolute zero, creating a time crystal that maintained motion for up to 108 cycles (several minutes). As the time crystal’s motion faded, it coupled with a nearby mechanical oscillator, with changes in frequency analogous to known optomechanical phenomena used in gravitational wave detection.