- Letter
Floquet central spin model: A platform to realize time crystals, entanglement steering, and multiparameter metrology
Phys. Rev. B 114, L140303 – Published 16 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vhx7-gbpt
Abstract
We propose and characterize protocols to engineer exact quantum revivals, discrete time crystals (DTCs), and entanglement oscillations in the periodically driven central spin model. While period-doubling DTCs have been observed in this system before, we uncover a unifying interaction-induced echo mechanism underlying several distinct dynamical regimes. We first demonstrate that this echo can enable exact period-doubling revivals when the Ising interaction strength, , between the central spin and the satellite spins is tuned to . Notably, these revivals persist for arbitrary and transverse field . This not only stabilizes the DTC response over a wide parameter regime, but also leads to a dynamical freezing regime. Furthermore, when and (), this echo induces a Clifford group structure. Consequently, higher-period revivals emerge that naturally steer the system through an entangled manifold of Bell-cat and spin-cat states. We establish that due to parity-dependent phases accumulated during the echo, the recurrence period is for even (odd) . Finally, we demonstrate that the multipartite entanglement generated by the Clifford dynamics can be harnessed for multiparameter metrology, with odd enabling Heisenberg-limited sensitivity.