Manipulating matter by strong coupling to vacuum fields

Abstract

Captivating cavities Laser technology is a familiar example of how confining light between two mirrors can tune its properties. Quantum mechanics also dictates that even without extraneous light, matter confined in a cavity resonant with its electronic or vibrational transitions can couple with vacuum electromagnetic field fluctuations. Garcia-Vidal et al. review the remarkable and still somewhat mysterious implications of this “strong-coupling” regime, with manifestations ranging from enhanced charge transport to site-selective chemical reactivity across a range of molecular and solid-state materials. Science , abd0336, this issue p. eabd0336