Light-matter hybrids made from strongly correlated electron systems

M. Eckstein1

1University of Hamburg, Germany

Enhancing the light-matter coupling in cavities provides an intriguing avenue to control properties of matter, from chemical reactions to transport and thermodynamic phase transitions. In this talk, I discuss two mechanisms in which quantum light can influence extended condensed matter systems, in particular strongly correlated electron systems: (i) The hybridization of light and matter can affect first-order metal insulator transitions, because light selectively modifies the free energy of the metallic phase . This mechanism has been discussed in relation to the cavity-controlled metalinsulator transition in 1T-TaS2 [1]. While it most likely is not the relevant mechanism in this case, we discuss other situations where it can be decisive. (ii) We discuss the possibility to induce photon mediated long-range interactions between spin and orbital degrees of freedom [2], which rely on the nonlinear light matter interaction (Raman scattering or two-photon absorption and emission).

1. Jarc et al., Nature 622, 487 (2023)
2. Fadler et al., arXiv:2311.01339