Time crystals in primordial perturbations

Abstract

Cosmological time crystal (TC) corresponds to a matter state where the periodic motion of field forms a limit cycle in its phase space. We explore what would happen if it existed in inflationary phase. It is found that the limit cycle responsible for TC will inevitably cause the periodic oscillation of the primordial perturbation spectrum. The oscillatory patterns of the spectrum depend on the TC parameters, and so encode the crystalline patterns of TC.