Crystals – Physics – Space – Time – Mysticism
I often wonder why some crystals feel different in my hands compared to others. Crystals, by definition, are matter; all physical objects are composed of matter in the form of atoms, which are, in turn, composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Crystals, such as diamonds and quartz, are made of atoms arranged in a repeating pattern in space.
So then, are the atoms in crystals actually alive? Are they generating a specific frequency? What is the magical mystery behind these beautiful creations formed by nature? To feed the need of my mind, I started researching, and I found some incredible new studies incorporating crystals, space, time, and physics. Most recently, scientists have “crystallized time” by creating a new state of matter called “The Time Crystal.”
Our notions of space and time serve to order things and events in our environment and, in turn, become of great importance in our everyday lives. Eastern philosophy has always maintained that space and time are constructs of the mind. Following this model, space and time are now reduced to the subjective role of the elements, the language used by a particular observer to describe a natural phenomenon. Each observer will describe it in a different way.
“Time, Space, and Causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen… In the Absolute, there is neither time, space, or causation.”
— S. Vivekananda
Modern physics has confirmed most dramatically one of the basic ideas of Eastern mysticism: that all the concepts we use to describe nature are limited, that they are not features of reality, as we tend to believe, but creations of the mind, parts of the map, not of the territory. Whenever we expand the realm of our experience, the limitations of our rational mind become apparent, and we have to modify or even abandon some of our concepts.
Does this new creation explain the vibrations of crystals? Or does it reflect back on the great mystery of nature — perhaps both?
“The Chinese astronomers did not feel the need for geometrical forms of explanation — the component organisms in the universal organism followed their Tao, each according to its own nature, and their motions could be dealt with in the essentially ‘non-representational’ form of algebra. The Chinese were thus free from that obsession of European astronomers for the circle as the most perfect figure… nor did they experience the medieval prison of the crystalline spheres.”
— Joseph Needham
Traditionally speaking, crystals, like salt, sugar, or even diamonds, are simply periodic arrangements of atoms in a three-dimensional lattice. Time crystals, on the other hand, take that notion of periodically arranged atoms and add a fourth dimension, suggesting that under certain conditions, the atoms of some materials can exhibit periodic structures across time.
“Empty space exhibits continuous translation symmetry: nothing distinguishes one point from any other. Yet ordinary crystals break this symmetry because atoms are periodically arranged in specific locations and display long-range spatial correlations. Given that we live in four-dimensional spacetime, it is natural to wonder if an analogous process of crystallization and symmetry breaking can arise along the time dimension as well.
If it does, then any such time crystal should return back to its initial state at specific times while spontaneously locking to an oscillation period that differs from that of any external time-dependent forces. Hence, this definition excludes all known classical oscillatory systems, such as waves or driven pendulums.”
— Phil Richerme
The ultimate goal of the work is to study how complicated collective behaviors arise from simple individual properties, perhaps informing molecular self-assembly projects, but it’s hard not to think about the origin-of-life implications.
“There is a blurry frontier between active and alive,” said biophysicist Jérémie Palacci of New York University. “That is exactly the kind of question that such works raise.”
Palacci and fellow NYU physicist Paul Chaikin led a group of researchers in developing particles that are described as forming “living crystals” in the right chemical conditions. Each particle is made from a microscopic cube of hematite, a compound consisting of iron and oxygen, sheathed in a spherical polymer coat. One corner is left exposed. Under certain wavelengths of blue light, hematite conducts electricity.
When the particles are placed in a hydrogen peroxide bath under blue light, chemical reactions catalyze around the exposed tips. As the hydrogen peroxide breaks down, concentration gradients form. The particles travel down these, aggregating into crystals that also follow the gradients. Random forces pull the crystals apart, but eventually, they merge again. The process repeats itself again and again, stopping only when the lights go out.
This is just a small taste of the history and research of the TIME CRYSTAL. Follow the links below to read the whole story. Enjoy!
Time crystals — how scientists created a new state of matter. 2/22/17. Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar
