Recent Advances in Strongly Coupled Light–Matter Quantum Systems

This course explores fundamental and emerging aspects of quantum systems in the strong light–matter coupling regime, with particular emphasis on polaritonic quasiparticles arising from the hybridization of photons and matter excitations. A central focus will be on exciton-polaritons, formed through the non-perturbative coupling between cavity photons and Coulomb-bound electron–hole pairs (excitons). 

The course will also examine recently discovered polaritonic platforms in which hybrid light–matter excitations arise from photon-mediated interactions beyond conventional excitonic physics, including systems where no bound excitons exist in the absence of the cavity field. Both continuous and lattice systems will be discussed, with emphasis on topological phenomena, non-equilibrium quantum-fluid behavior, collective effects, and phase transitions. Applications to quantum materials, photonic lattices, and cavity quantum electrodynamics will illustrate current research directions at the frontier of modern condensed-matter physics and quantum optics.