Short explanation by Andi

Here is a simplified explanation of the research described in the article in about 240 words: The researchers were exploring a new kind of exotic state of matter called a “topological time crystal.” This is a material where the atoms exhibit unusual coordinated behavior that repeats in time in a special way. Specifically, they were using a quantum computer made of superconducting circuits to simulate the behavior of a topological time crystal. They arranged 18 superconducting qubits (quantum bits) in a square lattice pattern and carefully programmed them to mimic the theoretical model of this exotic state of matter. The key signature they were looking for was that when they measured certain nonlocal properties of the system, they would see oscillations that repeated not at the period at which they were driving the system, but at twice that period. This “discrete time translation symmetry breaking” is the defining property of a time crystal. Remarkably, they observed this period doubling when they looked at nonlocal operators spanning multiple qubits, indicating the coordinated exotic behavior. But local measurements on single qubits did not show any unusual oscillations. This proves the nonlocal topological nature of this exotic state. They further demonstrated the robustness of this unusual coordinated behavior and its topological properties by adding small perturbations. Their observations provide evidence for realizing this novel out-of-equilibrium phase of matter in a real quantum simulator. The results showcase exciting progress in exploring exotic quantum states using quantum computers.