Google researchers made a time crystal inside a quantum computer

By Matthew Sparkes

A unique phase of matter called a time crystal, which can in theory flip between two configurations forever with no energy input necessary, has been created inside a quantum computer built by Google. It is one of the first real-world problems solved by a quantum computer, and could also be harnessed to improve them.

A crystal can form out of a material when its components form stable, repeating patterns. At this point it is said to have lost spatial symmetry – it no longer …