What the heck is a time crystal?

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It sounds like something from MCU but I literally have no idea what a time crystal is. I thought it was something theoretical or abstract but apparently that’s not the case it seems.

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A crystal is just something that has a repeating structure. Normally we mean this in the spatial sense. These crystals repeat some pattern in space but are unchanged through time. This applies to all the regular crystals you would be familiar with. A time crystal is something with a temporally repeating structure. So a time crystal has some physical structure that changes over time but in a repeating way.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They’re unfortunately way less interesting than the name, at least for non-scientists. A normal crystal has a repeating pattern to its structure. Maybe the atoms form hexagons that are connected in rows. In a time crystal, there is a similar situation except the pattern changes periodically. The atoms sit in one pattern for a little while then switch to another pattern for a bit and then keep switching back and forth. Since it’s not a set pattern unless you take time into consideration, they got the name “time crystals.”

Anonymous 0 Comments

In the context of time travel, it is necessary to create what is called a dual singularity system, which has both a black hole and white hole core. This basically bends space and time so dramatically that a person can alter the progression of time, called “temporal distortion”. The “time crystal” is one of the key components of this technology which helps to create and stabilize the singularities, preventing the black hole from falling into the center of the earth and destroying us all. Scientists are right now working on more advanced time crystals which would allow for more sophisticated time displacement apparati rather than the current generation of temporal distortion equipment.