2018/08/31 by Vasil Rokaj, Markus Penz, Michael A. Sentef +4 · 58 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Bloch wave #Field (mathematics) #Landau quantization #Magnetic field #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Photon #Physics #Propagator #Quantum #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum field theory #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.123.047202
published in Physical Review Letters 123(4), 047202 (American Physical Society)
openalex publication_date 2019/07/23 · arxiv created 2019/08/13 · arxiv updated 2019/08/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We propose a solution to the problem of Bloch electrons in a homogeneous magnetic field by including the quantum fluctuations of the photon field. A generalized quantum electrodynamical (QED)-Bloch theory from first principles is presented. In the limit of vanishing quantum fluctuations, we recover the standard results of solid-state physics: the fractal spectrum of the Hofstadter butterfly. As a further application, we show how the well-known Landau physics is modified by the photon field and that Landau polaritons emerge. This shows that our QED-Bloch theory does not only allow us to capture the physics of solid-state systems in homogeneous magnetic fields but also novel features that appear at the interface of condensed matter physics and quantum optics.