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
This demo is the payoff two years after Google's "quantum supremacy" claim on the same Sycamore processor — a result that proved raw speed but left open what the machine was actually useful for. The time crystal experiment answers that with something no classical computer could fake: a new phase of matter that cycles between states indefinitely without drawing energy.
It also fits Alphabet's longer playbook: the secretive Algorithms & Applications team at X was built to find exactly these kinds of uses for Google's quantum hardware, and the physics-results strategy has since become the company's proof-of-progress currency, culminating in its Willow error-correction breakthrough three years later.
First-order effects
Physicists get the first working demonstration of a time crystal — a theoretically predicted non-equilibrium phase of matter — run on real hardware rather than simulation, validating a decade-old prediction.
Google's Sycamore processor acquires a second headline use case beyond the supremacy benchmark, giving the hardware program a scientific result to point to while competitors chase commercial applications.
Second-order effects
Rival quantum programs come under pressure to match physics-first demonstrations rather than engineering claims alone — a standard of evidence that later sharpened into open skepticism toward Microsoft's Majorana 1 announcement when detailed data was lacking.
Experiments this sensitive to imperfection raise the value of error correction and qubit quality, pushing Google and its suppliers toward the fault-tolerance roadmap Willow later formalized.
Third-order effects
Quantum computers are repositioning from benchmark calculators into scientific instruments — platforms for discovering and verifying new phases of matter, a role that gives the industry a credibility metric independent of commercial timelines.
If physics demos become the field's accepted proof of progress, publication-level scrutiny of corporate claims hardens into an informal regulation layer, separating verified results from announcements.
The trend: Quantum computing is shifting from racing to prove raw computational advantage toward using processors as instruments for fundamental discovery, with each lab's next physics result doubling as its competitive credential.
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/…
@charlesarthur
Charles Arthur on x
The new Doctor Who script is coming along well https://twitter.com/...
@bcmerchant
Brian Merchant on x
The time of the Orb is past. All hail the Time Crystal https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mathewi
Mathew Ingram on x
I've seen how this movie ends and it's not good https://twitter.com/...
@hayatohuseman
Hayato Huseman on x
Absolute mad lads https://twitter.com/...
@nataliezed
@nataliezed on x
can we please not be making motherfucking TIME CRYSTALS right at this precise moment, there is kind of a lot going on and I need a moment of peace https://twitter.com/...
@vladchituc
Vlad Chituc on x
A lifetime of playing JRPGs has prepared me for this moment. https://twitter.com/...
@olivercameron
Oliver Cameron on x
I feel like our civilization just unlocked new capabilities in the simulation. https://twitter.com/...
@rishipuff
Rishi Mahesh on x
new phase of matter just dropped https://twitter.com/...
@stanton_jones
Robert Jones on x
put the time crystal in the large hadron collider, lets see what happens it'll be cool https://twitter.com/...
@dexbarton
Dex Hunter-Torricke on x
On days when our politics seems hopeless, I like to remember that there are millions of scientists and engineers quietly working to push the human race forward. That's not enough on its own, but it's something. https://twitter.com/...
@bigblackjacobin
Edward Ongweso Jr on x
My friends we must break up Google and this Time Crystal before it is too late https://twitter.com/...
@terryexciting
Terry on x
And now your daily headline from the Marvel Comic Universe... #MCU #Avengers #comics #QuantumComputing #Google https://twitter.com/...
@mathyawp
Francis Su on x
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…
@quantamagazine
Quanta on x
Many have tried and failed to build a perpetual motion machine. That device remains impossible, but physicists now say they've built a genuine “time crystal” inside a quantum computer that forever cycles between states without burning energy. (Thread) https://www.quantamagazine.o…
@thepatanoiac
@thepatanoiac on x
Hey @timescanner you've arrived in the era where they're inventing you! https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ...
@adamscochran
Adam Cochran on x
https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ... ...Oh no biggie. Just a new state of matter that defies currently laws of thermodynamics.
@stshank
Stephen Shankland on x
Mmm, time crystals sound very Doctor Who. Down with the second law of thermodynamics! https://www.quantamagazine.org/ ...
@caseynewton
Casey Newton on x
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/...