Sometimes, even the simplest things can set off a quantum phenomenon.

Physicists at NYU have discovered a new type of time crystal—an exotic state of matter whose particles rhythmically “tick” while levitating on sound waves.

A quiet revolution is taking shape in the world of physics, and it doesn’t rely on exotic particles or massive particle colliders. Instead, it begins with something much more familiar—sound.

Sound is usually treated as the most familiar of physical phenomena, the background noise of daily life rather than a frontier of fundamental physics. Yet in laboratories around the world, carefully ...

A strange form of matter called a time crystal has fascinated physicists for about a decade. These systems move in repeating ...