A Qutrit Time Crystal Stabilized with Native Chiral Interactions

  1. Noah Goss,
  2. Nishchay Suri,
  3. Brian Marinelli,
  4. Larry Chen,
  5. Akel Hashim,
  6. Sajant Anand,
  7. Alexis Morvan,
  8. Ravi K. Naik,
  9. Ermal Rrapaj,
  10. David I. Santiago,
  11. Wibe de Jong,
  12. Norman Y. Yao,
  13. Joel E. Moore,
  14. and Irfan Siddiqi
Periodically driven quantum many-body systems can spontaneously break discrete time-translation symmetry, realizing discrete time crystals. To date, both experimental and theoretical efforts have largely focused on the simplest case of spontaneous period-doubling in ℤ2 discrete time crystals realized with qubits. This owes, in part, to the challenge of stabilizing eigenstate order in higher discrete symmetry (ℤn) time crystals, due to the presence of richer domain wall physics. Here, we demonstrate the realization of a ℤ3 discrete time crystal by implementing a Floquet chiral clock model in a chain of 15 superconducting qutrits. Unlike the conventional Ising setting, our system features a tunable chiral angle that governs domain-wall dynamics, spectral degeneracies, and crucially, the stability of time-crystalline order. Using disordered nearest-neighbor chiral interactions, we observe robust subharmonic period tripling that persists across a wide range of drive strengths and is independent of initial state. Finally, we highlight the special role that chirality plays in our ℤ3 discrete time crystal — in its absence, the system’s Floquet dynamics exhibit a marked initial state dependence governed by domain wall degeneracies. Our results establish native qudit hardware as a powerful platform to access a broader landscape of non-equilibrium phases.
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