00:00 Recently, scientists have created the first time crystal.
00:04 It sounds like something straight out of a science fiction, doesn't it?
00:09 As if it were a mysterious component for a time machine.
00:14 But it's not quite true.
00:16 In reality, time crystals look more like a machine with perpetual motion.
00:23 But what are they exactly and how do they work?
00:26 Let's find out.
00:28 First of all, let's talk about crystals in general.
00:32 Take an ordinary crystal and examine it under a microscope.
00:36 You will see that it, like everything around us, is made up of molecules and atoms.
00:42 What makes them special is that their atoms are arranged according to a repetitive pattern.
00:48 For example, let's take a salt crystal.
00:51 If we look at it under a microscope, we will see a repetitive pattern inside.
00:56 And this pattern is the same everywhere, regardless of the size or shape of the piece of salt.
01:01 Throughout the crystal, this pattern will remain unchanged.
01:05 And it will always remain that way, no matter how much time has passed.
01:09 The salt crystal will always have the same repetitive pattern of atoms tomorrow, next week, or even next year.
01:16 Now let's move on to time crystals.
01:18 They are like ordinary crystals, but with a twist.
01:21 You probably know that all the atoms around us are in constant motion.
01:25 Even at very, very low temperatures.
01:28 When everything freezes, nothing can stop them.
01:31 In addition, their movement is random, chaotic and unpredictable.
01:35 They simply move in space.
01:37 However, in time crystals, everything is different.
01:41 Not only are their atoms arranged according to a repetitive pattern, just like in regular crystals,
01:47 but they also move in a loop dance, without end, and always repetitive.
01:52 It's strange now. The atoms in time crystals are like an endless dance party, in a loop.
01:59 All the guests repeat the same movements in the same order over and over again.
02:03 This dance, or repetitive pattern, can be completely different.
02:08 The movements can be basic and simple, or very complex and chaotic.
02:13 But they must be in a loop. Hence the name.
02:16 Regular crystals repeat indefinitely in space.
02:19 And time crystals repeat in space and time.
02:23 Now, just to clarify, these crystals are not what we are used to.
02:29 They don't look like diamonds, or emeralds, or anything like that.
02:35 To be honest, they don't look like much.
02:38 The beautiful name of time crystal describes a new type of very strange matter,
02:42 which changes its quantum state over a period of time.
02:45 Basically, they are just the atoms' dance movements.
02:49 So, unfortunately, you can't just put one on your shelf to make it vibrate.
02:54 It's not a nice piece of quartz, it's more like a...
02:58 curiosity in physics.
03:00 But that doesn't mean that these crystals are not cool.
03:03 In fact, there is something very unusual and interesting about them.
03:07 You see, the movements we talked about even persist at an absolute zero temperature.
03:12 That is to say, even when in normal materials and objects,
03:16 the atoms would freeze, lose energy, and stop moving.
03:21 In time crystals, they continue their endless dance as if nothing had happened.
03:26 Oh, and this is just the beginning.
03:28 Scientists are also stunned,
03:31 because the existence of time crystals violates the second law of thermodynamics.
03:36 This law states that over time, any system becomes random and disordered.
03:41 A hot object will distribute its heat and become cold.
03:44 A vase in equilibrium on the edge of a table will eventually fall, and so on.
03:49 But time crystals are like...
03:52 Hey, we don't care about your thermo-something.
03:55 Not only do they move constantly, according to the same diagram,
03:58 no matter what happens to them,
04:00 but they don't need energy to do it.
04:03 Even if they don't get energy from anywhere,
04:05 they keep dancing and don't become less structured or organized.
04:09 Yes, we have created a magnificent miracle of nature,
04:13 incomprehensible, that violates the laws of physics.
04:17 Isn't it impressive?
04:19 But how is it even possible?
04:21 And why?
04:22 Does this mean that nothing can stop these atoms?
04:25 And most importantly,
04:27 could it be a clue to the secrets of the machine with perpetual motion?
04:31 Well, it's quite complicated.
04:33 Once again, quantum mechanics blows up the scientists' brains.
04:38 But this time, with another mystery.
04:40 A unique and unusual behavior that we are still trying to understand.
04:45 As it is a relatively new field of research,
04:47 we are not yet sure exactly how they work,
04:51 and how we can use them.
04:53 By the way, how did we even discover SEGA?
04:56 And how were they created?
04:58 Time crystals were first predicted in 2012
05:02 by the theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek.
05:05 Although physicists did not accept the theory at the time,
05:08 many thought it was impossible to violate the second law of thermodynamics.
05:12 But the universe doesn't really care about what scientists think,
05:16 and Frank Wilczek won a Nobel Prize for his work.
05:19 However, it took a few more years for scientists
05:22 to actually create and observe the first time crystals.
05:26 This happened in 2016,
05:29 when scientists from the University of Maryland managed to create one,
05:33 using rare-earth metal ions, ytterbium.
05:37 Here's what they did.
05:39 First, they took an ordinary crystal,
05:41 and really, really cooled the atoms inside,
05:45 at a temperature close to zero.
05:48 As already mentioned,
05:49 zero is the temperature at which the atoms stop moving.
05:54 So far, we don't know how to reach this temperature,
05:57 but we can get very, very close to it.
06:01 We can slow down the atoms so much that they almost stop.
06:04 So they took all these atoms and made them move very slowly.
06:08 Then, they started to shock them with lasers.
06:11 This made the atoms switch between different states again and again,
06:15 without absorbing any energy from the laser.
06:18 We could say that the laser gave them a rhythm
06:20 and made them dance by themselves, without the help of anyone.
06:23 The result was the very first time crystal.
06:26 The Maryland scientists' experience was a major step forward,
06:30 and showed that time crystals were a real and observable phenomenon.
06:35 This provoked a certain agitation in the scientific community,
06:38 and was a big step forward in the strange world of quantum mechanics.
06:43 But, unfortunately, there was a problem.
06:46 Such a perpetual movement only exists for the time being in ideal time crystals.
06:51 And since the time crystals of our experiments were not ideal,
06:55 they only lasted a few minutes before melting
06:58 and starting to behave normally again.
07:00 What does this mean?
07:02 This means that, until now, unfortunately,
07:05 we cannot create a machine with perpetual motion.
07:08 If we try to do something like that,
07:11 the time crystals will melt immediately.
07:14 But this did not stop the scientists,
07:16 and in 2021, we finally made another breakthrough.
07:20 Researchers from Google, in collaboration with physicists from Stanford,
07:24 Princeton and other universities,
07:26 used Google's quantum computer
07:28 to create a much larger and much more stable time crystal.
07:32 You see, quantum computers are different from your typical laptop computer.
07:37 They do not use regular bits and do not work with silicon.
07:42 Instead, they work with quantum bits that can exist in several states at the same time.
07:48 This allows time crystals to continue to oscillate in a repetitive pattern,
07:52 even when any other movement has stopped.
07:54 All previous crystals were ephemeral,
07:57 made a few "go" and "come" and "melt" immediately.
08:01 But now, scientists have created a larger and better crystal than ever before.
08:08 So what does that mean for us?
08:10 Well, time crystals could hold the key to unlocking new technologies
08:15 and a deeper understanding of the quantum world.
08:18 To begin with, they will help us better explore the world of quantum mechanics.
08:23 They question our understanding of time and the way matter behaves.
08:28 In classical physics, things are either static,
08:31 or they move according to a predictable and repetitive pattern.
08:35 But time crystals do not care.
08:38 They both appreciate being static and moving at the same time.
08:41 They can also help us create new cool technologies.
08:45 They can bring us closer to the creation of a quantum computer in its entirety.
08:49 Engineers have fought for years to create something that could be used as a memory in quantum computers.
08:55 And now, they could use time crystals for that.
08:59 Their repetitive movement patterns could be able to store information.
09:04 Isn't that great?
09:06 We could also create a lot of other cool things with them.
09:09 For example, we could use their repetitive behavior to create a new type of ultra-precise clock.
09:16 Time crystals are still a relatively new field of research.
09:21 At the moment, we are mainly trying to understand their unique properties and characteristics.
09:27 Scientists are also doing experiments to study their behavior in different conditions,
09:32 for example at different temperatures and in magnetic fields.
09:36 In other words, this field of research is still at its infancy.
09:40 But time crystals are a really amazing discovery
09:44 that shows how strange and wonderful the universe can be.
09:48 They are already very interesting and attract the attention of scientists from all over the world.
09:53 I can't wait to see how many exciting and revolutionary discoveries will come from this field in the future.
09:59 (drumming)
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