2023/08/17 by Suman Gunasekaran, Gunasekaran, Suman, Ryan F. Pinard +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Strong Light-Matter Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.08744
openalex publication_date 2023/08/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Strong coupling between light and matter generates hybrid polariton modes. We present a continuum formalism that expresses the polariton modes in terms of light and matter densities of states (DOS). We derive exact expressions for the light and matter DOS for a planar cavity containing a strongly dispersive dielectric. We show that these DOS depend exclusively on the linear response of the cavity components, i.e., the reflectance of the mirrors and the susceptibility of the dielectric. We further show that, within the strong coupling regime, the light and matter DOS are well-approximated by coupled mode theory. Altogether, our continuum formalism offers a unified treatment of polaritons that connects the framework of light-matter coupling with that of linear dispersion.