AI 中文总结
研究在驱动耗散多体原子系统中观测超长寿命里德堡原子时间晶体，利用长程相互作用和稳定极限环动力学的耗散环境抑制破坏因素，通过优化实现超16.95小时振荡寿命，为探索非平衡相及相关应用搭建平台。
AI 中文摘要
连续时间晶体（CTCs）是一种非平衡量子相，在无周期性外部驱动下自发打破时间平移对称性，表现为在稳定泵浦下持续、长寿命的振荡。其寿命受极限环相位不稳定性限制，此前实验中很少研究。本文报告在驱动耗散多体原子系统中观测到超长寿命的里德堡原子CTCs。通过利用长程相互作用并设计稳定极限环动力学的耗散环境，抑制了通常破坏时间晶体序的加热和衰减效应。超长寿命CTCs的关键因素是刘维尔间隙的闭合和系统刘维尔本征谱的近零实部。经系统优化，实现了超过16.95小时的振荡寿命，比之前的CTCs实现长几个数量级。我们的工作为探索长寿命自主非平衡相建立了一个强大平台，并为量子传感和连续时间量子信息处理的应用铺平了道路。
英文摘要
Continuous time crystals (CTCs) represent a nonequilibrium quantum phase that spontaneously breaks time-translation symmetry without periodic external driving, manifesting as persistent, long-lived oscillations under steady pumping. The lifetime is constrained by the instability of the limit cycle phase, balanced between nonlinear feedback and energy dissipation, which have rarely been studied in experiments before. Here, we report an observation of an ultralong-lived Rydberg-atom CTC in a driven-dissipative many-body atomic system. By harnessing long-range interactions and engineering a dissipative environment that stabilizes the limit-cycle dynamics, we suppress heating and decay effects that typically destroy time-crystalline order. The key factor underlying the ultralong-lived CTC is the closing of the Liouvillian gap and the near-zero real part of the system's Liouvillian eigenspectrum. Through systematic optimization, we achieve an oscillatory lifetime exceeding 16.95 hours-orders of magnitude longer than previous CTC realizations. Our work establishes a robust platform for exploring long-lived autonomous nonequilibrium phases and paves the way for applications in quantum sensing and continuous-time quantum information processing.
