Quantum metamorphism

Abstract

Crystals form regular and robust structures that under extreme conditions can melt and recrystallize into different arrangements in a process that is called crystal metamorphism. While crystals exist due to the breaking of a continuous translation symmetry in space, it has recently been proposed that discrete crystalline order can also emerge in time and give raise to a novel phase of matter named discrete time crystal (DTC). In this paper, we join these two ideas and propose a model for quantum metamorphism between two DTCs of different periodicity, a 2T and 4T-DTC. In our model the conditions for metamorphism come from the modulation of perturbative terms in the 4T-DTC Hamiltonian that gradually melt its structure and transform it into a 2T-DTC. This process is studied in detail from the viewpoint of manybody physics of periodically driven systems. We also propose a protocol to experimentally observe quantum metamorphism using current quantum technology.