Algebraic Time Crystallization in a Two-Dimensional Superfluid

Abstract

Time crystallization is a hallmark of superfluidity, indicative of the fundamental fact that along with breaking the global U(1) symmetry, superfluids also break time-translation symmetry. While the standard discussion of the time crystallization phenomenon is based on the notion of the global phase and genuine condensate, for the superfluidity to take place in two dimensions an algebraic (topological) order is sufficient. We find that the absence of long-range order in a finite-temperature two-dimensional superfluid translates into algebraic time crystallization caused by the temporal phase correlations. The exponent controlling the algebraic decay is a universal function of the superfluid-stiffness-to-temperature ratio; this exponent can be also seen in the power-law singularity of the Fourier spectrum of the AC Josephson current. We elaborate on subtleties involved in defining the phenomenon of time crystallization in both classical-field and all-quantum cases and propose an experimental protocol in which the broken time translation symmetry—more precisely, temporal correlations of the relative phase, with all possible finite-size, dimensional, and quantum effects included—can be observed without permanently keeping two superfluids in a contact.