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Formation of cavity polaritons via high-order Van Hove singularities

Igor Gianardi1,*, Michele Pini2,1,†, and Francesco Piazza2,1

  • *Contact author: gianardi@pks.mpg.de
  • †Contact author: michele.pini@uni-a.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043074 – Published 19 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9c1j-kqf4

Abstract

We consider polaritons formed by hybridizing a continuum of interband particle-hole excitations of an insulating phase with a cavity photon at subgap frequencies, where absorption is suppressed. The strength of the hybridization is driven by the Van Hove singularity (VHS) in the joint density of states (JDOS) at the band gap: The stronger the singularity, the more a photon is hybridized with the interband transitions. In order to increase the singularity and thus the polariton hybridization without absorption, we propose to engineer a nonparabolic momentum dispersion of the bands around the gap in order to implement a high-order VHS in the JDOS. Ultracold atoms in tunable optical lattices are an ideal platform to engineer two-dimensional gapped phases with nontrivial band dispersions at the gap. Moreover, the intrinsic noninteracting nature of polarized fermionic atoms prevents the emergence of subgap excitations, which are common in solid-state systems and could otherwise spoil the absence of absorption below the gap. Our findings identify band engineering at the gap edge as a promising route for polariton control with applications in quantum nonlinear optics.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043074– Published 19 October, 2026
  • Received 29 September 2025
  • Accepted 5 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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