Time Crystals Boost Batteries and Sensors ⚡ экспресс
Scientists built a model of a chain of quantum particles whose interaction decays according to a power law, and subjected it to periodic kicks. This led to a discrete time crystal phase — a kind of quantum pendulum that swings with a doubled period and accumulates energy faster than linearly. At the same time, the system becomes a sensitive sensor: the accuracy of estimating time shifts surpasses the standard Heisenberg limit, with the degree of superiority tuned by interaction parameters. The discovered platform promises new ways to store energy and measure time at the quantum level.
A long row of swings, connected by weakening springs, when pushed rhythmically, starts swinging not in sync but twice as slowly. Physicists call such stubbornness a discrete time crystal.
In this regime, stored energy grows not as the sum of individual swings — a hundred linked units accumulate significantly more than a hundred separate ones. The main advantage is sensitivity. The slightest shift in the rhythm of kicks produces a signal inaccessible to ordinary devices, bypassing the quantum precision limit. Such sensors will be useful in high-resolution spectroscopy or ultra-precise navigation.
🎯 A hundred connected swings detect a shift in kicks ten thousand times more accurately than one — as if a team multiplies each player's power by ten.