Physicists say they used Google's quantum computer to demo a time crystal, which forever cycles between states without consuming energy, for the first time
Like a perpetual motion machine, a time crystal forever cycles between states without consuming energy. Tweets: @nattyover , @mathyawp , @thepatanoiac , @adamscochran , @stshank , and @caseynewton Tweets: Natalie Wolchover / @nattyover : New: Google's quantum computing team in collaboration with physicists say they have demonstrated a genuine time crystal for the first time. I've been chasing this story for months now; the paper finally dropped yesterday evening. Read all about it: https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... Francis Su / @mathyawp : Always exciting to see a @harveymudd graduate making news (Khemani). Here's a great article about her work, though I didn't understand how a new phase of matter can be created inside a quantum computer? Can any of you physics/computing folks shed light? https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... @thepatanoiac : Hey @timescanner you've arrived in the era where they're inventing you! https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... Adam Cochran / @adamscochran : https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... ...Oh no biggie. Just a new state of matter that defies currently laws of thermodynamics. Stephen Shankland / @stshank : Mmm, time crystals sound very Doctor Who. Down with the second law of thermodynamics! https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Google made something called a ‘time crystal’ and it broke the second law of thermodynamics. Which I'm pretty sure was the plot of Devs https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Google's quantum program has been building toward this since the Sycamore processor's "quantum supremacy" calculation in 2019 proved the hardware could beat supercomputers on one contrived task, and since Alphabet's secretive X team began hunting for algorithms and applications to run on it. A time crystal is a different kind of milestone: rather than racing classical machines, physicists used Google's qubits as a laboratory instrument to observe an exotic phase of matter that cycles between states indefinitely without absorbing energy.
The demo also lands amid rising scrutiny of quantum "firsts." By late 2024 Google itself had pivoted to error correction with its Willow chip, and by early 2025 Microsoft faced pushback from physicists over undetailed evidence behind its Majorana 1 claims — so this result enters a field where the credibility of any single demonstration is now part of the story.
First-order effects
- Physicists gain a working testbed for studying non-equilibrium phases of matter on programmable hardware, moving time crystals from theory papers to observable experiments.
- Google's quantum group gets its second headline validation after the Sycamore supremacy claim — evidence its processors are useful scientific instruments, not just benchmark machines.
Second-order effects
- Competitors' breakthrough announcements now get judged against a standard set by peer-reviewed physics demonstrations; Microsoft's Majorana skepticism shows the reputational cost when evidence trails the claim.
- Demonstration-driven publicity raises the pressure on Google to pair each exotic-physics result with engineering progress on error rates, where its own Willow roadmap becomes the follow-on deliverable.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, quantum computers consolidate their near-term value as instruments for fundamental science — discovery demos gated by error-correction milestones — while commercial applications remain further out than the headlines imply.
The trend: Quantum computing is shifting from benchmark races against classical machines toward verified scientific demonstrations, with credibility of evidence becoming as decisive as the results themselves.