Physicists at New York University have assembled an apparatus where minuscule spheres are suspended in mid-air, held aloft by acoustic waves, and subsequently acquire motion following a strictly repetitive pattern—akin to minute pendulums that spontaneously synchronize their rhythm. Remarkably, this phenomenon is perceptible without magnification; the device, roughly the size of a desktop speaker and fabricated via 3D printing, is entirely handheld.
NYU’s Center for Soft Matter Research
In scientific terminology, such configurations are termed “time crystals.” While the terminology might sound complex, the underlying concept is straightforward: just as a conventional crystal exhibits a repeating spatial arrangement, here a temporal pattern emerges—the particles repeatedly cycle through the identical sequence of motion.
The crucial element lies in how the spheres impart force upon one another. Elementary physics dictates that if one object exerts a force upon a second, the second exerts an equally strong but oppositely directed force upon the first. In this specific experiment, the interaction profile deviates from this strict symmetry: the spheres exchange acoustic waves, resulting in an unequal mutual influence. This asymmetry is why popular accounts often suggest the setup appears to “bypass” Newton’s familiar law.
It is essential to clarify: this involves neither sorcery nor a violation of natural laws. The system is continuously supplied with energy from the sound field, causing its behavior to differ significantly from two spheres interacting in a vacuum without external driving.
The researchers believe the merit of this study lies in its visual clarity and simplicity: previously, such “ticking” systems were typically explored through highly sophisticated experiments, whereas here the effect is observable directly by the naked eye. This accessibility aids in grasping how resilient rhythms and spontaneous cycles arise in nature—spanning from fundamental physical occurrences to prospective methodologies for data storage and processing technologies.
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