Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a platform for realizing Wigner crystals and enable their detection via exciton spectroscopy. We develop a microscopic theoretical model for excitons interacting with the localized electrons of the Wigner crystal, including their vibrational motion. In addition to the previously observed exciton-Umklapp feature, the theory reproduces and explains the higher-band attractive-polaron resonances recently reported experimentally. Our model further uncovers that the appearance of two equal-strength and parallel attractive polarons, as commonly observed in ${\mathrm{WSe}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{WS}}_2$, is a signature of strong correlations in the electronic system. Altogether, our results demonstrate that accounting for electronic interactions is essential to reproducing and interpreting the exciton-polaron spectra of TMDs.

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• Excitons
• Polarons
• Wigner crystal
• Variational approach