The time crystal phase emerges from the qubit network under unitary random operations

Abstract

In this paper, we report findings of non-stationary behavior observed in a fully connected qubit network, utilizing a random unitary evolution model in open quantum system theory. The environmental effect is reflected in the partial swap (PSW) interaction between pairs of qubits with a certain probability. Our study begins with a simple Ising-type Hamiltonian and through many iterations of random unitary evolution, a non-stationary oscillatory state may arise, which encodes certain memory of the initial state. The non-trivial periodic motion of some local observables is indicative of a continuous time crystal phase. We also explore the extension of our study to other types of Hamiltonians and demonstrate that this non-stationary behavior is widespread in our model due to the generalized dynamical symmetry. Remarkably, both theoretical and numerical analysis support the robustness of the constructed time crystal phase to most types of noise. Our research provides a new perspective for constructing the time crystal phase in an open system model.