time crystals
E140560
Time crystals are a novel phase of matter that exhibits periodic motion in its lowest-energy state, effectively breaking time-translation symmetry.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| time crystals canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1231377 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: time crystals Context triple: [Frank Wilczek, knownFor, time crystals]
-
A.
Super-many-time theory of quantum mechanics
The Super-many-time theory of quantum mechanics is a relativistic generalization of quantum mechanics that introduces multiple time variables to consistently describe interacting quantum fields in different reference frames.
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B.
Kac ring model
The Kac ring model is a simplified mathematical model in statistical mechanics introduced by Mark Kac to illustrate how macroscopic irreversibility can emerge from time-reversible microscopic dynamics.
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C.
Wigner crystal
A Wigner crystal is an ordered lattice of electrons that forms in low-density systems when their mutual Coulomb repulsion dominates over kinetic energy, leading to a crystalline arrangement of charge.
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D.
Surprises in Theoretical Physics
Surprises in Theoretical Physics is a collection of insightful essays by physicist Rudolf Peierls that explores unexpected results and conceptual twists in modern theoretical physics.
-
E.
Time Vaults
Time Vaults are heavily secured chambers on Gallifrey used by the Time Lords to imprison or safeguard dangerous temporal artifacts, entities, and secrets.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: time crystals Target entity description: Time crystals are a novel phase of matter that exhibits periodic motion in its lowest-energy state, effectively breaking time-translation symmetry.
-
A.
Super-many-time theory of quantum mechanics
The Super-many-time theory of quantum mechanics is a relativistic generalization of quantum mechanics that introduces multiple time variables to consistently describe interacting quantum fields in different reference frames.
-
B.
Kac ring model
The Kac ring model is a simplified mathematical model in statistical mechanics introduced by Mark Kac to illustrate how macroscopic irreversibility can emerge from time-reversible microscopic dynamics.
-
C.
Wigner crystal
A Wigner crystal is an ordered lattice of electrons that forms in low-density systems when their mutual Coulomb repulsion dominates over kinetic energy, leading to a crystalline arrangement of charge.
-
D.
Surprises in Theoretical Physics
Surprises in Theoretical Physics is a collection of insightful essays by physicist Rudolf Peierls that explores unexpected results and conceptual twists in modern theoretical physics.
-
E.
Time Vaults
Time Vaults are heavily secured chambers on Gallifrey used by the Time Lords to imprison or safeguard dangerous temporal artifacts, entities, and secrets.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
non-equilibrium phase of matter
ⓘ
phase of matter ⓘ |
| areCharacterizedBy |
periodic expectation values of observables in time
ⓘ
stability of oscillations against small perturbations ⓘ |
| areDescribedIn | quantum many-body physics ⓘ |
| areDifferentFrom | ordinary crystals that break spatial translation symmetry ⓘ |
| areDiscussedIn |
foundations of statistical mechanics
ⓘ
quantum thermodynamics ⓘ |
| areExampleOf |
dynamical phase of matter
ⓘ
spontaneously time-ordered phase ⓘ |
| areInvestigatedFor |
potential applications in precision timekeeping
ⓘ
potential applications in quantum memory ⓘ potential applications in quantum technologies ⓘ |
| areOftenRealizedUsing |
Bose–Einstein condensates in driven potentials
ⓘ
periodically driven spin chains ⓘ superconducting qubit arrays ⓘ |
| areRealizedAs |
Floquet time crystals
ⓘ
discrete time crystals ⓘ many-body localized time crystals ⓘ |
| areRelatedToConcept |
Floquet systems
ⓘ
many-body localization ⓘ out-of-equilibrium quantum phases ⓘ spontaneous symmetry breaking ⓘ |
| areSometimesCalled | temporal crystals ⓘ |
| areStudiedIn |
condensed matter physics
ⓘ
nonequilibrium statistical mechanics ⓘ quantum information science ⓘ |
| areSubjectOf |
ongoing experimental research
ⓘ
ongoing theoretical research ⓘ |
| break | time-translation symmetry ⓘ |
| doNotExhibit | thermal equilibrium in the usual sense ⓘ |
| exhibit | periodic motion in their lowest-energy state ⓘ |
| haveAnalogyWith | spatial crystals in terms of symmetry breaking ⓘ |
| haveKeyFeature |
collective synchronization of many-body degrees of freedom in time
ⓘ
subharmonic oscillations at integer multiples of the drive period ⓘ |
| haveProperty |
long-range temporal order
ⓘ
rigid oscillation frequency locked to a fraction of the drive frequency ⓘ robust subharmonic response to periodic driving ⓘ |
| haveTheoreticalConstraint | no-go theorems for equilibrium time crystals ⓘ |
| obey | discrete time-translation symmetry ⓘ |
| require | driving or non-equilibrium conditions in most realizations ⓘ |
| wereFirstRealizedExperimentallyInYear |
2016
ⓘ
2017 ⓘ |
| wereFirstRealizedInSystem |
nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond
ⓘ
spin impurities in solid-state systems ⓘ trapped ions ⓘ |
| wereProposedBy | Frank Wilczek ⓘ |
| wereProposedInYear | 2012 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: time crystals Description of subject: Time crystals are a novel phase of matter that exhibits periodic motion in its lowest-energy state, effectively breaking time-translation symmetry.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.