Tunable intertwining via collective excitations
Abstract
The intertwining of multiple order parameters is a widespread phenomenon in equilibrium condensed matter systems, yet its exploration is often hindered by the complexity of real materials. Here, we present a controlled study of intertwined orders in a minimal and versatile driven-dissipative quantum-engineered platform. We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate at the intersection of two optical cavities, realizing two competing copies of a Z 2 symmetry-breaking superradiant phase transition characterized by density-wave orders. Using periodic drives that exploit dynamical symmetry reduction, we show that collective excitations can be harnessed to stabilize a variety of out-of-equilibrium intertwined orders. Going beyond the conventional phenomenology involving Landau orders, we show the emergence of a larger class of out-of-equilibrium intertwined phases, including intertwining of purely time-crystalline orders, as well as between Landau and time crystal orders. These results should be observable in state-of-the-art experimental setups.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence
Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices
Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical Review Research
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 2
- Publication date
- 15 May 2026
- Language
- EN