We identify persistent oscillations in a nonintegrable quantum Ising chain. In the integrable chain with nearest-neighbor interactions, the nature, origin, and decay of post-transition oscillations are tied to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Remarkably, when coupling to the next-nearest neighbor is added, the resulting nonintegrable “zigzag” chain (still in the quantum Ising universality class) supports persistent oscillation: Topological defects (kinks) appear as a result of the quantum phase transition. However, in a “zigzag” Ising chain defects can form Cooper pairs. The oscillation of the Cooper-pair condensate has a frequency that depends on the binding energy gap between the paired and the unpaired defects, so it can be excited by resonant driving. While one might have expected that the integrability-breaking zigzag coupling causes relaxation, the oscillations we identify are persistent: Their longevity in our simulations is likely limited only by numerical accuracy. This oscillation of the Cooper-pair condensate of kinks is a manifestation of quantum coherence and should be experimentally accessible.

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• Quantum coherence & coherence measures
• Quantum phase transitions
• Quantum simulation
• Quantum many-body systems