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Cavity Spectroscopy for Strongly Correlated Polaritonic Systems

Lukas Grunwald1,2,*, Emil Viñas Boström2,3,†, Mark Kamper Svendsen4,2, Dante M. Kennes1,2, and Angel Rubio2,5,3,‡

  • *Contact author: lukas.grunwald@mpsd.mpg.de
  • †Contact author: emil.bostrom@mpsd.mpg.de
  • ‡Contact author: angel.rubio@mpsd.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 246901 – Published 18 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1lpw-22np

Abstract

Embedding materials in optical cavities has emerged as an intriguing perspective for controlling quantum materials, but a key challenge lies in measuring properties of the embedded matter. Here, we propose a framework for probing strongly correlated cavity-embedded materials through direct measurements of cavity photons. We derive general relations between photon and matter observables inside the cavity, and show how these can be measured via the emitted photons. As an example, we demonstrate how the entanglement phase transition of an embedded H2 molecule can be accessed by measuring the cavity photon occupation, and showcase how dynamical spin correlation functions can be accessed by measuring dynamical photon correlation functions. Our framework provides an all-optical method to measure static and dynamic properties of cavity-embedded materials.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 246901– Published 18 June, 2025
  • Received 29 October 2024
  • Revised 27 March 2025
  • Accepted 16 May 2025
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