Theoretical Advances in Polariton Chemistry and Molecular Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

Multiple interacting photonic modes in strongly coupled organic microcavities

Room-temperature cavity quantum electrodynamics with molecular materials in optical cavities offers exciting prospects for controlling electronic, nuclear and photonic degrees of freedom for applications in physics, chemistry and materials science. However, achieving strong coupling with molecular ensembles typically requires high molecular densities and substantial electromagnetic-field confinement. These conditions usually involve a significant degree of molecular disorder and a highly structured photonic density of states. It remains unclear to what extent these additional complexities modify the usual physical picture of strong coupling developed for atoms and inorganic semiconductors. Using a microscopic quantum description of molecular ensembles in realistic multimode optical resonators, we show that the emergence of vacuum Rabi splitting in linear spectroscopy is a necessary but not sufficient metric of coherent admixing between light and matter. In low-finesse multi-mode situations, we find that molecular dipoles can be partially hybridized with photonic dissipation channels associated with off-resonant cavity modes. These vacuum-induced dissipative processes ultimately limit the extent of light-matter coherence that the system can sustain.This article is part of the theme issue 'The quantum theory of light'.

Revisiting cavity-coupled 2DIR: A classical approach implicates reservoir modes

Significant debate surrounds the origin of nonlinear optical responses from cavity-coupled molecular vibrations. Several groups, including our own, have previously assigned portions of the nonlinear response to polariton excited-state transitions. Here, we report a new method to approximate two-dimensional infrared spectra under vibrational strong coupling, which properly accounts for inhomogeneous broadening. We find excellent agreement between this model and experimental results for prototypical systems exhibiting both homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening. This work implies that reservoir excitation is solely responsible for all optical response measured after the polariton modes dephase and represents an important new method for predicting and interpreting the nonlinear optical response of molecular vibrational polaritons.

Theory of molecular emission power spectra. III. Non-Hermitian interactions in multichromophoric systems coupled with polaritons

Based on our previous study [Wang et al., J. Chem. Phys. 153, 184102 (2020)], we generalize the theory of molecular emission power spectra (EPS) from one molecule to multichromophoric systems in the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics. This generalized theory is applicable to ensembles of molecules, providing a comprehensive description of the molecular spontaneous emission spectrum in arbitrary inhomogeneous, dispersive, and absorbing media. In the far-field region, the analytical formula of EPS can be expressed as the product of a lineshape function (LF) and an electromagnetic environment factor (EEF). To demonstrate the polaritonic effect on multichromophoric systems, we simulate the LF and EEF for one to three molecules weakly coupled to surface plasmon polaritons above a silver surface. Our analytical expressions show that the peak broadening originates from not only the spontaneous emission rates but also the imaginary part of resonant dipole-dipole interactions (non-Hermitian interactions), which is associated with the superradiance of molecular aggregates, indicating that the superradiance rate can be controlled through an intermolecular distance and the design of dielectric environments. This study presents an alternative approach to directly analyze the hybrid-state dynamics of multichromophoric systems coupled with polaritons.

Room-Temperature Exciton Polaritons in a Monolayer Molecular Crystal

Strong coupling between excitons and photons in optical microcavities leads to the formation of exciton polaritons, which maintain both the coherence of light and the interaction of matter. Recently, atomically thin monolayer semiconductors with a large exciton oscillator strength and high exciton binding energy have been widely used for realizing room-temperature exciton polaritons. Here, we demonstrated room-temperature exciton polaritons with a monolayer molecular crystal. The molecular monolayers behave as J-aggregates with comparable oscillator strength and narrow line width as inorganic monolayers, enabling exciton-photon strong coupling at the monolayer limit. Moreover, the coupling strength can be tuned systematically via engineering the in-plane polarization or by using a vertical stack of multiple molecular monolayers. Our research provides a new material platform for realizing strong light-matter interactions inside optical microcavities at room temperature and may motivate the development of molecular-crystal-based exciton-polaritonic devices with novel functions and new possibilities.

Plasmon-Exciton Strong Coupling in Colloidal Au Nanocubes with Layered Molecular J-Aggregates

Strong coupling between light and matter forms hybrid states, such as exciton-polaritons, which are crucial for advancements in quantum science and technology. Plasmonic metal nanoparticles, with their ultrasmall mode volumes, are effective for generating these states, but the coupling strength is often limited by surface saturation of excitonic materials. Additionally, cubic nanoparticles, which can generate strong local fields, have not been systematically explored. This study investigates strong coupling in Au nanocubes (AuNCs) coupled with J-aggregates, observing spectral splitting in both extinction and scattering spectra. Our findings suggest that smaller AuNCs, with higher-quality resonances and reduced mode volumes, achieve stronger coupling. Furthermore, a layer-by-layer (LBL) coating of J-aggregates on AuNCs results in a ∼21% increase in coupling strength. Simulations reveal the mechanism behind the enhanced coupling and confirm that the layering method effectively increases coupling, surpassing the limitations of the finite surface area of nanoparticles.

Mechanism of Molecular Polariton Decoherence in the Collective Light-Matter Couplings Regime

Molecular polaritons, the hybridization of electronic states in molecules with photonic excitation inside a cavity, play an important role in fundamental quantum science and technology. Understanding the decoherence mechanism of molecular polaritons is among the most significant fundamental questions. We theoretically demonstrate that hybridizing many molecular excitons in a cavity protects the overall quantum coherence from phonon-induced decoherence. The polariton coherence time can be prolonged up to 100 fs with a realistic collective Rabi splitting and quality factor at room temperature, compared to the typical electronic coherence time which is around 15 fs. Our numerically exact simulations and analytic theory suggest that the dominant decoherence mechanism is the population transfer from the upper polariton state to the dark state manifold. Increasing the collective coupling strength will increase the energy gap between these two sets of states and thus prolong the coherence lifetime. We further derived valuable scaling relations that directly indicate how polariton coherence depends on the number of molecules, Rabi splittings, and light-matter detunings.

Hamiltonian non-Hermicity: Accurate dynamics with the multiple Davydov D2Ansätze

We examine the applicability of the numerically accurate method of time dependent variation with multiple Davydov Ansätze (mDA) to non-Hermitian systems. As illustrative examples, three systems of interest have been studied, a non-Hermitian system of dissipative Landau-Zener transitions, a non-Hermitian multimode Jaynes-Cummings model, and a dissipative Holstein-Tavis-Cummings model, all of which are shown to be effectively described by the mDA method. Our findings highlight the versatility of the mDA as a powerful numerical tool for investigating complex many-body non-Hermitian systems, which can be extended to explore diverse phenomena such as skin effects, excited-state dynamics, and spectral topology in the non-Hermitian field.

Perturbative analysis of the coherent state transformation in ab initio cavity quantum electrodynamics

Experimental demonstrations of modified chemical structure and reactivity under strong light-matter coupling have spurred theoretical and computational efforts to uncover underlying mechanisms. Ab initio cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) combines quantum chemistry with cavity QED to investigate these phenomena in detail. Unitary transformations of ab initio cavity QED Hamiltonians have been used to make them more computationally tractable. We analyze one such transformation, the coherent state transformation, using perturbation theory. Applying perturbation theory up to third order for ground state energies and potential energy surfaces of several molecular systems under electronic strong coupling, we show that the coherent state transformation yields better agreement with exact ground state energies. We examine one specific case using perturbation theory up to ninth order and find that coherent state transformation performs better up to fifth order but converges more slowly to the exact ground state energy at higher orders. In addition, we apply perturbation theory up to second order for cavity mode states under bilinear coupling, elucidating how the coherent state transformation accelerates the convergence of the photonic subspace toward the complete basis limit and renders molecular ion energies origin invariant. These findings contribute valuable insights into computational advantages of the coherent state transformation in the context of ab initio cavity quantum electrodynamics methods.

Cavity induced modulation of intramolecular vibrational energy flow pathways

Recent experiments in polariton chemistry indicate that reaction rates can be significantly enhanced or suppressed inside an optical cavity. One possible explanation for the rate modulation involves the cavity mode altering the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) pathways by coupling to specific molecular vibrations in the vibrational strong coupling (VSC) regime. However, the mechanism for such a cavity-mediated modulation of IVR is yet to be understood. In a recent study, Ahn et al. [Science 380, 1165 (2023)] observed that the rate of alcoholysis of phenyl isocyanate (PHI) is considerably suppressed when the cavity mode is tuned to be resonant with the isocyanate (NCO) stretching mode of PHI. Here, we analyze the quantum and classical IVR dynamics of a model effective Hamiltonian for PHI involving the high-frequency NCO-stretch mode and two of the key low-frequency phenyl ring modes. We compute various indicators of the extent of IVR in the cavity-molecule system and show that tuning the cavity frequency to the NCO-stretching mode strongly perturbs the cavity-free IVR pathways. Subsequent IVR dynamics involving the cavity and the molecular anharmonic resonances lead to efficient scrambling of an initial NCO-stretching overtone state over the molecular quantum number space. We also show that the hybrid light-matter states of the effective Hamiltonian undergo a localization-delocalization transition in the VSC regime.

Molecular Assembly in Optical Cavities

Chemistry has traditionally focused on the synthesis of desired compounds, with organic synthesis being a key method for obtaining target molecules. In contrast, self-assembly -where molecules spontaneously organize into well-defined structures- has emerged as a powerful tool for fabricating intricate structures. Self-assembly was initially studied in biological systems but has been developed for synthetic methods, leading to the field of supramolecular chemistry, where non-covalent interactions/bonds guide molecular assembly. This has led to the development of complex molecular structures, such as metal-organic frameworks and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks. Parallel to this field, cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), developed in the mid-20th century, has recently intersected with molecular assembly. Early research in cavity strong coupling focused on inorganic solids and simple molecules, but has since extended to molecular assemblies. The strong coupling synergized with molecular assembly will generate new polaritonic phenomena and applications.

Role of cavity strong coupling on single electron transfer reaction rate at electrode-electrolyte interface

The physicochemical properties of molecules can be modulated through polariton formation under strong electromagnetic confinement. Here, we discuss the possibility of exploiting this phenomenon to increase the electron transfer rate at an electrode-electrolyte interface. Electron transfer theory under strong electromagnetic confinement can be extended to the electrode-electrolyte interface, and single-electron transfer reactions can be simulated using Gerischer's theory. Although single electron transfer in free space is well described using Marcus theory, the vacuum electric field can facilitate an additional electron transfer pathway via virtual photon excitation under cavity strong coupling conditions. Therefore, this binary reaction pathway for single electron transfer can yield a quasi-two-particle electron transfer process. This quantum behavior can dominate when the mode volume is small and when there are a large number of molecules in the vacuum electric field. Exploitation of polaritons in single electron transfer reactions can lead to enhanced electrochemical energy conversion systems.

Comparing parameterized and self-consistent approaches to ab initio cavity quantum electrodynamics for electronic strong coupling

Molecules under strong or ultra-strong light-matter coupling present an intriguing route to modify chemical structure, properties, and reactivity. A rigorous theoretical treatment of such systems requires handling matter and photon degrees of freedom on an equal quantum mechanical footing. In the regime of molecular electronic strong or ultra-strong coupling to one or a few molecules, it is desirable to treat the molecular electronic degrees of freedom using the tools of ab initio quantum chemistry, yielding an approach referred to as ab initio cavity quantum electrodynamics (ai-QED), where the photon degrees of freedom are treated at the level of cavity QED. We analyze two complementary approaches to ai-QED: (1) a parameterized ai-QED, a two-step approach where the matter degrees of freedom are computed using existing electronic structure theories, enabling the construction of rigorous ai-QED Hamiltonians in a basis of many-electron eigenstates, and (2) self-consistent ai-QED, a one-step approach where electronic structure methods are generalized to include coupling between electronic and photon degrees of freedom. Although these approaches are equivalent in their exact limits, we identify a disparity between the projection of the two-body dipole self-energy operator that appears in the parameterized approach and its exact counterpart in the self-consistent approach. We provide a theoretical argument that this disparity resolves only under the limit of a complete orbital basis and a complete many-electron basis for the projection. We present numerical results highlighting this disparity and its resolution in a particularly simple molecular system of helium hydride cation, where it is possible to approach these two complete basis limits simultaneously. In this same helium hydride system, we examine and compare the practical issue of the computational cost required to converge each approach toward the complete orbital and many-electron bases limit. Finally, we assess the aspect of photonic convergence for polar and charged species, finding comparable behavior between parameterized and self-consistent approaches.

Impact of Cavity Length Non-uniformity on Reaction Rate Extraction in Strong Coupling Experiments

Reports of altered chemical phenomena under vibrational strong coupling, including reaction rates, product distributions, intermolecular forces, and cavity-mediated vibrational energy transfer, have been met with a great deal of skepticism due to several irreproducible results and the lack of an accepted theoretical framework. In this work, we add some insight by identifying a UV-vis measurement artifact that distorts observed absorption peak positions, amplitudes, and consequently, chemical reaction rates extracted in optical microcavities. We predict and characterize the behavior of this artifact using the Transfer Matrix (TM) method and confirm its presence experimentally. We then present a correction technique whereby an effective molar absorption coefficient is assigned to an absorbing species within the cavity. These revelations have important implications for many existing examples of cavity-modified chemistry and establishing best practices for carrying out robust future investigations.

Quantized embedding approaches for collective strong coupling-Connecting ab initio and macroscopic QED to simple models in polaritonics

Collective light-matter interactions have been used to control chemistry and energy transfer, yet accessible approaches that combine ab initio methodology with large many-body quantum optical systems are missing due to the fast increase in computational cost for explicit simulations. We introduce an accessible ab initio quantum embedding concept for many-body quantum optical systems that allows us to treat the collective coupling of molecular many-body systems effectively in the spirit of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics while keeping the rigor of ab initio quantum chemistry for the molecular structure. Our approach fully includes the quantum fluctuations of the polaritonic field and yet remains much simpler and more intuitive than complex embedding approaches such as dynamical mean-field theory. We illustrate the underlying assumptions by comparison to the Tavis-Cummings model. The intuitive application of the quantized embedding approach and its transparent limitations offer a practical framework for the field of ab initio polaritonic chemistry to describe collective effects in realistic molecular ensembles.

Electronic structure simulations in the cloud computing environment

The transformative impact of modern computational paradigms and technologies, such as high-performance computing (HPC), quantum computing, and cloud computing, has opened up profound new opportunities for scientific simulations. Scalable computational chemistry is one beneficiary of this technological progress. The main focus of this paper is on the performance of various quantum chemical formulations, ranging from low-order methods to high-accuracy approaches, implemented in different computational chemistry packages and libraries, such as NWChem, NWChemEx, Scalable Predictive Methods for Excitations and Correlated Phenomena, ExaChem, and Fermi-Löwdin orbital self-interaction correction on Azure Quantum Elements, Microsoft's cloud services platform for scientific discovery. We pay particular attention to the intricate workflows for performing complex chemistry simulations, associated data curation, and mechanisms for accuracy assessment, which is demonstrated with the Arrows automated workflow for high throughput simulations. Finally, we provide a perspective on the role of cloud computing in supporting the mission of leadership computational facilities.

Optical force and torque in near-field excitation of C3H6: A first-principles study using RT-TDDFT

Optical trapping is an effective tool for manipulating micrometer-sized particles, although its application to nanometer-sized particles remains difficult. The field of optical trapping has advanced significantly, incorporating more advanced techniques such as plasmonic structures. However, single-molecule trapping remains a challenge. To achieve a deeper understanding of optical forces acting on molecular systems, a first-principles approach to analyze the optical force on molecules interacting with a plasmonic field is crucial. In our study, the optical force and torque induced by the near-field excitation of C3H6 were investigated using real-time time-dependent density functional theory calculations on real-space grids. The near field from the scanning tunneling probe was adopted as the excitation source for the molecule. The optical force was calculated using the polarization charges induced in the molecule based on Lorentz force. While the optical force and torque calculated as functions of the light energy were in moderate agreement with the oscillator strengths obtained from the far-field excitation of C3H6, a closer correspondence was achieved with the power spectrum of the induced dipole moment using near-field excitation. Time-domain analysis of the optical force suggests that the simultaneous excitation of multiple excited states generally weakens the force because of mismatches between the directions of the induced polarization and the electric field. This study revealed a subtle damping mechanism for the optical force arising from intrinsic electronic states and the influence of beating.

Simulating Cavity-Modified Electron Transfer Dynamics on NISQ Computers

We present an algorithm based on the quantum-mechanically exact tensor-train thermo-field dynamics (TT-TFD) method for simulating cavity-modified electron transfer dynamics on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computers. The utility and accuracy of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a model for the photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer reaction within the carotenoid-porphyrin-C60 molecular triad in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution. The electron transfer rate is found to increase significantly with increasing coupling strength between the molecular system and the cavity. The rate process is also seen to shift from overdamped monotonic decay to under-damped oscillatory dynamics. The electron transfer rate is seen to be highly sensitive to the cavity frequency, with the emergence of a resonance cavity frequency for which the effect of coupling to the cavity is maximal. Finally, an implementation of the algorithm on the IBM Osaka quantum computer is used to demonstrate how TT-TFD-based electron transfer dynamics can be simulated accurately on NISQ computers.

Non-equilibrium rate theory for polariton relaxation dynamics

We derive an analytic expression of the non-equilibrium Fermi's golden rule (NE-FGR) expression for a Holstein-Tavis-Cumming Hamiltonian, a universal model for many molecules collectively coupled to the optical cavity. These NE-FGR expressions capture the full-time-dependent behavior of the rate constant for transitions from polariton states to dark states. The rate is shown to be reduced to the well-known frequency domain-based equilibrium Fermi's golden rule (E-FGR) expression in the equilibrium and collective limit and is shown to retain the same scaling with the number of sites in non-equilibrium and non-collective cases. We use these NE-FGR to perform population dynamics with a time-non-local and time-local quantum master equation and obtain accurate population dynamics from the initially occupied upper or lower polariton states. Furthermore, NE-FGR significantly improves the accuracy of the population dynamics when starting from the lower polariton compared to the E-FGR theory, highlighting the importance of the non-Markovian behavior and the short-time transient behavior in the transition rate constant.

Unraveling abnormal collective effects via the non-monotonic number dependence of electron transfer in confined electromagnetic fields

Strong light-matter coupling within an optical cavity leverages the collective interactions of molecules and confined electromagnetic fields, giving rise to the possibilities of modifying chemical reactivity and molecular properties. While collective optical responses, such as enhanced Rabi splitting, are often observed, the overall effect of the cavity on molecular systems remains ambiguous for a large number of molecules. In this paper, we investigate the non-adiabatic electron transfer process in electron donor-acceptor pairs influenced by collective excitation and local molecular dynamics. Using the timescale difference between reorganization and thermal fluctuations, we derive analytical formulas for the electron transfer rate constant and the polariton relaxation rate. These formulas apply to any number of molecules (N) and account for the collective effect as induced by cavity photon coupling. Our findings reveal a non-monotonic dependence of the rate constant on N, which can be understood by the interplay between electron transfer and polariton relaxation. As a result, the cavity-induced quantum yield increases linearly with N for small N (as predicted by a simple Dicke model) but shows a turnover and suppression for large N. We also interrelate the thermal bath frequency and the number of molecules, suggesting the optimal number for maximizing enhancement. The analysis provides an analytical insight for understanding the collective excitation of light and electron transfer, helping to predict the optimal condition for effective cavity-controlled chemical reactivity.

Cavity-Mediated Enhancement of the Energy Transfer in the Reduced Fenna-Matthews-Olson Complex

Strong light-matter interaction leads to the formation of hybrid polariton states and can alter the light-harvesting properties of natural photosynthetic systems without modifying their chemical structure. In the present study, we computationally investigate the effect of the resonant cavity on the efficiency and the rate of the population transfer in a quantum system coupled to the cavity and the dissipative environment. The parameters of the model system were chosen to represent the Fenna-Matthews-Olson natural light-harvesting complex reduced to the three essential sites. The dynamics of the total system was propagated using the hierarchical equations of motion. Our results show that the strong light-matter interaction can accelerate the population transfer process compared to the cavity-free case but at the cost of lowering the transfer efficiency. The transition to the strong coupling regime was found to coincide with the degeneracy of polariton eigenvalues. Our findings indicate the potential and the limit of tuning the energy transfer in already efficient natural light-harvesting systems.

More than just smoke and mirrors: Gas-phase polaritons for optical control of chemistry

Gas-phase molecules are a promising platform to elucidate the mechanisms of action and scope of polaritons for optical control of chemistry. Polaritons arise from the strong coupling of a dipole-allowed molecular transition with the photonic mode of an optical cavity. There is mounting evidence of modified reactivity under polaritonic conditions; however, the complex condensed-phase environment of most experimental demonstrations impedes mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon. While the gas phase was the playground of early efforts in atomic cavity quantum electrodynamics, we have only recently demonstrated the formation of molecular polaritons under these conditions. Studying the reactivity of isolated gas-phase molecules under strong coupling would eliminate solvent interactions and enable quantum state resolution of reaction progress. In this Perspective, we contextualize recent gas-phase efforts in the field of polariton chemistry and offer a practical guide for experimental design moving forward.

Cavity-Tuned Exciton Dynamics in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Monolayers

A fully quantum, numerically accurate methodology is presented for the simulation of the exciton dynamics and time-resolved fluorescence of cavity-tuned two-dimensional (2D) materials at finite temperatures. This approach was specifically applied to a monolayer WSe2 system. Our methodology enabled us to identify the dynamical and spectroscopic signatures of polaronic and polaritonic effects and to elucidate their characteristic timescales across a range of exciton-cavity couplings. The approach employed can be extended to simulation of various cavity-tuned 2D materials, specifically for exploring finite temperature nonlinear spectroscopic signals.

Theory and quantum dynamics simulations of exciton-polariton motional narrowing

The motional narrowing effect has been extensively studied for cavity exciton-polariton systems in recent decades both experimentally and theoretically, which is featured by (1) the subaverage behavior and (2) the asymmetric linewidths for the upper polariton and the lower polariton. However, a minimal theoretical model that is clear and adequate to address all these effects as well as the linewidth scaling relations remains missing. In this work, based on the single mode 1D Holstein-Tavis-Cummings (HTC) model, we studied the motional narrowing effect of the polariton linear absorption spectra via both semi-analytic derivations and numerically exact quantum dynamics simulations using the hierarchical equations of motion approach. The results reveal that under collective light-matter coupling between a cavity mode and N molecules, the polariton linewidth scales as 1/N under the slow limit, while scales as 1/N under the fast limit, due to the polaron decoupling effect. Furthermore, by varying the detunings, the polariton linewidths exhibit significant motional narrowing, covering both characters mentioned above. Our analytic linewidth expressions [Eqs. (34) and (35)] agree well with the numerical exact simulations in all the parameter regimes we explored. These results indicate that the physics of motional narrowing is adequately accounted for by the single-mode 1D HTC model. We envision that both the numerical results and the analytic polariton linewidths expression presented in this work will offer great theoretical value for providing a better understanding of the exciton-polariton motional narrowing based on the HTC model.

i-PI 3.0: A flexible and efficient framework for advanced atomistic simulations

Atomic-scale simulations have progressed tremendously over the past decade, largely thanks to the availability of machine-learning interatomic potentials. These potentials combine the accuracy of electronic structure calculations with the ability to reach extensive length and time scales. The i-PI package facilitates integrating the latest developments in this field with advanced modeling techniques thanks to a modular software architecture based on inter-process communication through a socket interface. The choice of Python for implementation facilitates rapid prototyping but can add computational overhead. In this new release, we carefully benchmarked and optimized i-PI for several common simulation scenarios, making such overhead negligible when i-PI is used to model systems up to tens of thousands of atoms using widely adopted machine learning interatomic potentials, such as Behler-Parinello, DeePMD, and MACE neural networks. We also present the implementation of several new features, including an efficient algorithm to model bosonic and fermionic exchange, a framework for uncertainty quantification to be used in conjunction with machine-learning potentials, a communication infrastructure that allows for deeper integration with electronic-driven simulations, and an approach to simulate coupled photon-nuclear dynamics in optical or plasmonic cavities.

Cavity Controlled Upconversion in CdSe Nanoplatelet Polaritons

Exciton-polaritons provide a versatile platform for investigating quantum electrodynamics effects in chemical systems, such as polariton-altered chemical reactivity. However, using polaritons in chemical contexts will require a better understanding of their photophysical properties under ambient conditions, where chemistry is typically performed. Here, we used cavity quality factor to control strong light-matter interactions and in particular the excited state dynamics of colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets (NPLs) coupled to a Fabry-Pérot optical cavity. With increasing cavity quality factor, we observe significant population of the upper polariton (UP) state, exemplified by the rare observation of substantial UP photoluminescence (PL). Excitation of the lower polariton (LP) states results in upconverted PL emission from the UP branch due to efficient exchange of population between the LP, UP and the reservoir of dark states present in collectively coupled polaritonic systems. In addition, we measure time scales for polariton dynamics ∼100 ps, implying great potential for NPL based polariton systems to affect photochemical reaction rates. State-of-the-art quantum dynamical simulations show outstanding quantitative agreement with experiments, and thus provide important insight into polariton photophysical dynamics of collectively coupled nanocrystal-based systems. These findings represent a significant step toward the development of practical polariton photochemistry platforms.

Kadanoff-Baym Equations for Interacting Systems with Dissipative Lindbladian Dynamics

The extraordinary quantum properties of nonequilibrium systems governed by dissipative dynamics have become a focal point in contemporary scientific inquiry. The nonequilibrium Green's functions (NEGF) theory provides a versatile method for addressing driven nondissipative systems, utilizing the powerful diagrammatic technique to incorporate correlation effects. We here present a second-quantization approach to the dissipative NEGF theory, reformulating Keldysh ideas to accommodate Lindbladian dynamics and extending the Kadanoff-Baym equations accordingly. Generalizing diagrammatic perturbation theory for many-body Lindblad operators, the formalism enables correlated and dissipative real-time simulations for the exploration of transient and steady-state changes in the electronic, transport, and optical properties of materials.

Quantum nature of reactivity modification in vibrational polariton chemistry

In this work, we present a mixed quantum-classical open quantum system dynamics method for studying rate modifications of ground-state chemical reactions in an optical cavity under vibrational strong-coupling conditions. In this approach, the cavity radiation mode is treated classically with a mean-field nuclear force averaging over the remaining degrees of freedom, both within the system and the environment, which are handled quantum mechanically within the hierarchical equations of motion framework. Using this approach, we conduct a comparative analysis by juxtaposing the mixed quantum-classical results with fully quantum-mechanical simulations. After eliminating spurious peaks that can occur when not using the rigorous definition of the rate constant, we confirm the crucial role of the quantum nature of the cavity radiation mode in reproducing the resonant peak observed in the cavity frequency-dependent rate profile. In other words, it appears necessary to explicitly consider the quantized photonic states in studying reactivity modification in vibrational polariton chemistry (at least for the model systems studied in this work), as these phenomena stem from cavity-induced reaction pathways involving resonant energy exchanges between photons and molecular vibrational transitions.

Exciton energy transfer inside cavity-A benchmark study of polaritonic dynamics using the surface hopping method

Strong coupling between the molecular system and photon inside the cavity generates polaritons, which can alter reaction rates by orders of magnitude. In this work, we benchmark the surface hopping method to simulate non-adiabatic dynamics in a cavity. The comparison is made against a numerically exact method (the hierarchical equations of motion) for a model system investigating excitonic energy transfer for a broad range of parameters. Surface hopping captures the effects of the radiation mode well, both at resonance and off-resonance. We have further investigated parameters that can increase or decrease the rate of population transfer, and we find that surface hopping in general can capture both effects well. Finally, we show that the dipole self-energy term within our parameter regime does not significantly affect the system's dynamics.

Quantum rates in dissipative systems with spatially varying friction

We investigate whether making the friction spatially dependent on the reaction coordinate introduces quantum effects into the thermal reaction rates for dissipative reactions. Quantum rates are calculated using the numerically exact multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method, as well as the approximate ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD), ring-polymer instanton methods, and classical molecular dynamics. By conducting simulations across a wide range of temperatures and friction strengths, we can identify the various regimes that govern the reactive dynamics. At high temperatures, in addition to the spatial-diffusion and energy-diffusion regimes predicted by Kramer's rate theory, a (coherent) tunneling-dominated regime is identified at low friction. At low temperatures, incoherent tunneling dominates most of Kramer's curve, except at very low friction, when coherent tunneling becomes dominant. Unlike in classical mechanics, the bath's influence changes the equilibrium time-independent properties of the system, leading to a complex interplay between spatially dependent friction and nuclear quantum effects even at high temperatures. More specifically, a realistic friction profile can lead to an increase (or decrease) of the quantum (classical) rates with friction within the spatial-diffusion regime, showing that classical and quantum rates display qualitatively different behaviors. Except at very low frictions, we find that RPMD captures most of the quantum effects in the thermal reaction rates.

Room-temperature strong coupling between CdSe nanoplatelets and a metal-DBR Fabry-Pérot cavity

The generation of exciton-polaritons through strong light-matter interactions represents an emerging platform for exploring quantum phenomena. A significant challenge in colloidal nanocrystal-based polaritonic systems is the ability to operate at room temperature with high fidelity. Here, we demonstrate the generation of room-temperature exciton-polaritons through the coupling of CdSe nanoplatelets (NPLs) with a Fabry-Pérot optical cavity, leading to a Rabi splitting of 74.6 meV. Quantum-classical calculations accurately predict the complex dynamics between the many dark state excitons and the optically allowed polariton states, including the experimentally observed lower polariton photoluminescence emission, and the concentration of photoluminescence intensities at higher in-plane momenta as the cavity becomes more negatively detuned. The Rabi splitting measured at 5 K is similar to that at 300 K, validating the feasibility of the temperature-independent operation of this polaritonic system. Overall, these results show that CdSe NPLs are an excellent material to facilitate the development of room-temperature quantum technologies.

Mesoscale Molecular Simulations of Fabry-Pérot Vibrational Strong Coupling

Developing theoretical frameworks for vibrational strong coupling (VSC) beyond the single-mode approximation is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of experiments with planar Fabry-Pérot cavities. Herein, a generalized cavity molecular dynamics (CavMD) scheme is developed to simulate VSC of a large ensemble of realistic molecules coupled to an arbitrary 1D or 2D photonic environment. This approach is built upon the Power-Zienau-Woolley Hamiltonian in the normal mode basis and uses a grid representation of the molecular ensembles to reduce the computational cost. When simulating the polariton dispersion relation for a homogeneous distribution of molecules in planar Fabry-Pérot cavities, our data highlight the importance of preserving the in-plane translational symmetry of the molecular distribution. In this homogeneous limit, CavMD yields the consistent polariton dispersion relation as an analytic theory, i.e., incorporating many cavity modes with varying in-plane wave vectors (k∥) produces the same spectrum as the system with a single cavity mode. Furthermore, CavMD reveals that the validity of the single-mode approximation is challenged when nonequilibrium polariton dynamics are considered, as polariton-polariton scattering occurs between modes with the nearest neighbor k∥. The procedure for numerically approaching the macroscopic limit is also demonstrated with CavMD by increasing the system size. Looking forward, our generalized CavMD approach may facilitate understanding vibrational polariton transport and condensation.

Insights into the mechanisms of optical cavity-modified ground-state chemical reactions

In this work, we systematically investigate the mechanisms underlying the rate modification of ground-state chemical reactions in an optical cavity under vibrational strong-coupling conditions. We employ a symmetric double-well description of the molecular potential energy surface and a numerically exact open quantum system approach-the hierarchical equations of motion in twin space with a matrix product state solver. Our results predict the existence of multiple peaks in the photon frequency-dependent rate profile for a strongly anharmonic molecular system with multiple vibrational transition energies. The emergence of a new peak in the rate profile is attributed to the opening of an intramolecular reaction pathway, energetically fueled by the cavity photon bath through a resonant cavity mode. The peak intensity is determined jointly by kinetic factors. Going beyond the single-molecule limit, we examine the effects of the collective coupling of two molecules to the cavity. We find that when two identical molecules are simultaneously coupled to the same resonant cavity mode, the reaction rate is further increased. This additional increase is associated with the activation of a cavity-induced intermolecular reaction channel. Furthermore, the rate modification due to these cavity-promoted reaction pathways remains unaffected, regardless of whether the molecular dipole moments are aligned in the same or opposite direction as the light polarization.

Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics Enables para- and ortho-Selective Electrophilic Bromination of Nitrobenzene

Coupling molecules to a quantized radiation field inside an optical cavity has shown great promise to modify chemical reactivity. In this work, we show that the ground-state selectivity of the electrophilic bromination of nitrobenzene can be fundamentally changed by strongly coupling the reaction to the cavity, generating ortho- or para-substituted products instead of the meta product. Importantly, these are products that are not obtained from the same reaction outside the cavity. A recently developed ab initio approach was used to theoretically compute the relative energies of the cationic Wheland intermediates, which indicate the kinetically preferred bromination site for all products. Performing an analysis of the ground-state electron density for the Wheland intermediates inside and outside the cavity, we demonstrate how strong coupling induces reorganization of the molecular charge distribution, which in turn leads to different bromination sites directly dependent on the cavity conditions. Overall, the results presented here can be used to understand cavity induced changes to ground-state chemical reactivity from a mechanistic perspective as well as to directly connect frontier theoretical simulations to state-of-the-art, but realistic, experimental cavity conditions.

Coupling polyatomic molecules to lossy nanocavities: Lindblad vs Schrödinger description

The use of cavities to impact molecular structure and dynamics has become popular. As cavities, in particular plasmonic nanocavities, are lossy and the lifetime of their modes can be very short, their lossy nature must be incorporated into the calculations. The Lindblad master equation is commonly considered an appropriate tool to describe this lossy nature. This approach requires the dynamics of the density operator and is thus substantially more costly than approaches employing the Schrödinger equation for the quantum wave function when several or many nuclear degrees of freedom are involved. In this work, we compare numerically the Lindblad and Schrödinger descriptions discussed in the literature for a molecular example where the cavity is pumped by a laser. The laser and cavity properties are varied over a range of parameters. It is found that the Schrödinger description adequately describes the dynamics of the polaritons and emission signal as long as the laser intensity is moderate and the pump time is not much longer than the lifetime of the cavity mode. Otherwise, it is demonstrated that the Schrödinger description gradually fails. We also show that the failure of the Schrödinger description can often be remedied by renormalizing the wave function at every step of time propagation. The results are discussed and analyzed.

Resonance theory of vibrational polariton chemistry at the normal incidence

We present a theory that explains the resonance effect of the vibrational strong coupling (VSC) modified reaction rate constant at the normal incidence of a Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavity. This analytic theory is based on a mechanistic hypothesis that cavity modes promote the transition from the ground state to the vibrational excited state of the reactant, which is the rate-limiting step of the reaction. This mechanism for a single molecule coupled to a single-mode cavity has been confirmed by numerically exact simulations in our recent work in [J. Chem. Phys. 159, 084104 (2023)]. Using Fermi's golden rule (FGR), we formulate this rate constant for many molecules coupled to many cavity modes inside a FP microcavity. The theory provides a possible explanation for the resonance condition of the observed VSC effect and a plausible explanation of why only at the normal incident angle there is the resonance effect, whereas, for an oblique incidence, there is no apparent VSC effect for the rate constant even though both cases generate Rabi splitting and forming polariton states. On the other hand, the current theory cannot explain the collective effect when a large number of molecules are collectively coupled to the cavity, and future work is required to build a complete microscopic theory to explain all observed phenomena in VSC.

Investigating the collective nature of cavity-modified chemical kinetics under vibrational strong coupling

In this paper, we develop quantum dynamical methods capable of treating the dynamics of chemically reacting systems in an optical cavity in the vibrationally strong-coupling (VSC) limit at finite temperatures and in the presence of a dissipative solvent in both the few and many molecule limits. In the context of two simple models, we demonstrate how reactivity in the collective VSC regime does not exhibit altered rate behavior in equilibrium but may exhibit resonant cavity modification of reactivity when the system is explicitly out of equilibrium. Our results suggest experimental protocols that may be used to modify reactivity in the collective regime and point to features not included in the models studied, which demand further scrutiny.

Exploring the impact of vibrational cavity coupling strength on ultrafast CN + c-C6H12 reaction dynamics

Molecular polaritons, hybrid light-matter states resulting from strong cavity coupling of optical transitions, may provide a new route to guide chemical reactions. However, demonstrations of cavity-modified reactivity in clean benchmark systems are still needed to clarify the mechanisms and scope of polariton chemistry. Here, we use transient absorption to observe the ultrafast dynamics of CN radicals interacting with a cyclohexane (c-C6H12) and chloroform (CHCl3) solvent mixture under vibrational strong coupling of a C-H stretching mode of c-C6H12. By modulating the c-C6H12:CHCl3 ratio, we explore how solvent complexation and hydrogen (H)-abstraction processes proceed under collective cavity coupling strengths ranging from 55 to 85 cm-1. Reaction rates remain unchanged for all extracavity, on-resonance, and off-resonance cavity coupling conditions, regardless of coupling strength. These results suggest that insufficient vibrational cavity coupling strength may not be the determining factor for the negligible cavity effects observed previously in H-abstraction reactions of CN with CHCl3.

Generalized Optical Sum Rules for Light-Dressed Matter

Light-driven matter can exhibit qualitatively distinct electronic and optical properties from those observed at equilibrium. We introduce generalized sum rules for the optical properties of light-driven molecules. Both classical and quantum light are considered. For classical light, the Floquet sum rules show that the sum of all Fourier components, indexed by n = -∞ to ∞, of the time-dependent dipole matrix elements between Floquet modes weighted by the corresponding quasienergy difference in the first Floquet Brillouin zone plus n driving frequency is a constant. Surprisingly, it is impossible to alter the energy exchange rate between matter and a perturbative external probe laser by a strong driving, even though the spectra can differ significantly from the bare ones. These developments provide guidance for the control of effective optical properties of matter by light fields.

Strong coupling-induced frequency shifts of highly detuned photonic modes in multimode cavities

Strong coupling between light and molecules is a fascinating topic exploring the implications of the hybridization of photonic and molecular states. For example, many recent experiments have explored the possibility that strong coupling of photonic and vibrational modes might modify chemical reaction rates. In these experiments, reactants are introduced into a planar cavity, and the vibrational mode of a chemical bond strongly couples to one of the many photonic modes supported by the cavity. Some experiments quantify reaction rates by tracking the spectral shift of higher-order cavity modes that are highly detuned from the vibrational mode of the reactant. Here, we show that the spectral position of these cavity modes, even though they are highly detuned, can still be influenced by strong coupling. We highlight the need to consider this strong coupling-induced frequency shift of cavity modes if one is to avoid underestimating cavity-induced reaction rate changes. We anticipate that our work will assist in the re-analysis of several high-profile results and has implications for the design of future strong coupling experiments.

Fully Quantum Simulation of Polaritonic Vibrational Spectra of Large Cavity-Molecule System

The formation of molecular vibrational polaritons, arising from the interplay between molecular vibrations and infrared cavity modes, is a quantum phenomenon necessitating accurate quantum dynamical simulations. Here, we introduce the cavity vibrational self-consistent field/virtual state configuration interaction method, enabling quantum simulation of the vibrational spectra of many-molecule systems within the optical cavity. Focusing on the representative (H2O)21 system, we showcase this parameter-free quantum approach's ability to capture both linear and nonlinear vibrational spectral features. Our findings highlight the growing prominence of molecular couplings among OH stretches and bending excited bands with increased light-matter interaction, revealing distinctive nonlinear spectral features induced by vibrational strong coupling.

Cavity Catalysis of an Enantioselective Reaction under Vibrational Strong Coupling

Strong light-matter interaction is emerging as an exciting tool for controlling chemical reactions. Here, we demonstrate an L-proline-catalyzed direct asymmetric Aldol reaction under vibrational strong coupling. Both the reactants (4-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone) carbonyl bands are coupled to an infrared photon and react in the presence of L-proline. The reaction mixture is eluted from the cavity, and the conversion yields and enantiomeric excess are quantified using NMR and chiral HPLC. The conversion yields increase by up to 90 % in ON-resonance conditions. Interestingly, a large increase in the conversion yield does not affect the enantiomeric excess. Further control experiments were carried out by varying the temperature, and we propose that the rate-limiting step may not be the deciding factor in enantioselectivity. Whereas the formation of the enamine intermediate is modified by cavity coupling experiments. For this class of enantioselective reactions, strong coupling does not change the enantiomeric excess, possibly due to the large energy difference in chiral transition states. Strong coupling can boost the formation of enamine intermediate, thereby favouring the product yield. This gives more hope to test polaritonic chemistry based on enantioselective reactions in which the branching ratios can be controlled.

Subradiant plasmonic cavities make bright polariton states dark

Nanostructured plasmonic surfaces allow for precise tailoring of electromagnetic modes within sub-diffraction mode volumes, boosting light-matter interactions. This study explores vibrational strong coupling (VSC) between molecular ensembles and subradiant "dark" cavities that support infrared quadrupolar plasmonic resonances (QPLs). The QPL mode exhibits a dispersion characteristic of bound states in the continuum (BIC). That is, the mode is subradiant or evanescent at normal incidence and acquires increasing "bright" dipole character with larger in-plane wavevectors. We deposited polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) thin films on QPL substrates to induce VSC with the carbonyl stretch in PMMA and measured the resulting infrared (IR) spectra. Our computational analysis predicts the presence of "dark" subradiant polariton states within the near-field of the QPL mode, and "bright" collective molecular states. This finding is consistent with classical and quantum mechanical descriptions of VSC that predict hybrid polariton states with cavity-like modal character and N-1 collective molecular states with minimal cavity character. However, the behaviour is opposite of what is standardly observed in VSC experiments that use "bright" cavities, which results in "bright" polariton states that can be spectrally resolved as well as N-1 collective molecular states that are spectrally absent. Our experiments confirm a reduction of molecular absorption and other spectral signatures of VSC with the QPL mode. In comparison, our experiments promoting VSC with dipolar plasmonic resonances (DPLs) reproduce the conventional behavior. Our results highlight the significance of cavity mode symmetry in modifying the properties of the resultant states from VSC, while offering prospects for direct experimental probing of the N-1 molecule-like states that are usually spectrally "dark".

Semiclassical Truncated-Wigner-Approximation Theory of Molecular Vibration-Polariton Dynamics in Optical Cavities

It has been experimentally demonstrated that molecular-vibration polaritons formed by strong coupling of a molecular vibration to an infrared cavity mode can significantly modify the physical properties and chemical reactivities of various molecular systems. However, a complete theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the modifications remains elusive due to the complexity of the hybrid system, especially the collective nature of polaritonic states in systems containing many molecules. We develop here the semiclassical theory of molecular vibration-polariton dynamics based on the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) that is tractable in large molecular systems and simultaneously captures the quantum character of photons in the optical cavity. The theory is then applied to investigate the nuclear quantum dynamics of a system of identical diatomic molecules having the ground-state Morse potential and being strongly coupled to an infrared cavity mode in the ultrastrong coupling regime. The validity of TWA is examined by comparing it with the full quantum dynamics of a single-molecule system for two different initial states in the dipole and Coulomb gauges. For the initial tensor-product ground state in the dipole gauge, which corresponds to a light-matter entangled state in the Coulomb gauge, the collective and resonance effects of molecular vibration-polariton formation on the nuclear dynamics are observed in a system of many molecules.

Formulation of transition dipole gradients for non-adiabatic dynamics with polaritonic states

A general formulation of the strong coupling between photons confined in a cavity and molecular electronic states is developed for the state-interaction state-average spin-restricted ensemble-referenced Kohn-Sham method. The light-matter interaction is included in the Jaynes-Cummings model, which requires the derivation and implementation of the analytical derivatives of the transition dipole moments between the molecular electronic states. The developed formalism is tested in the simulations of the nonadiabatic dynamics in the polaritonic states resulting from the strong coupling between the cavity photon mode and the ground and excited states of the penta-2,4-dieniminium cation, also known as PSB3. Comparison with the field-free simulations of the excited-state decay dynamics in PSB3 reveals that the light-matter coupling can considerably alter the decay dynamics by increasing the excited state lifetime and hindering photochemically induced torsion about the C=C double bonds of PSB3. The necessity of obtaining analytical transition dipole gradients for the accurate propagation of the dynamics is underlined.

Foundations of Quantum Information for Physical Chemistry

Quantum information, a field in which great advances have been made in the past decades, now presents opportunities for advanced chemistry. One roadblock to progress, especially for experimental chemical science, is that new concepts and technical definitions need to be learned. In this paper, we review some basic, but sometimes misunderstood, concepts of quantum information based on the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics that will be useful for chemists interested in discovering ways that chemistry can contribute to the quantum information field. We cover topics including qubits and their density matrix formalism, quantum measurement as a quantum operation, information theory, and entanglement. We focus on the difference between the concepts in the quantum context and the classic context. We also discuss the relation and distinction among entanglement, correlation, and coherence. We aim to clarify the rigorous definition of these concepts and then indicate some examples in physical chemistry.

Controlling Molecular Photoisomerization in Photonic Cavities through Polariton Funneling

Strong coupling between photonic modes and molecular electronic excitations, creating hybrid light-matter states called polaritons, is an attractive avenue for controlling chemical reactions. Nevertheless, experimental demonstrations of polariton-modified chemical reactions remain sparse. Here, we demonstrate modified photoisomerization kinetics of merocyanine and diarylethene by coupling the reactant's optical transition with photonic microcavity modes. We leverage broadband Fourier-plane optical microscopy to noninvasively and rapidly monitor photoisomerization within microcavities, enabling systematic investigation of chemical kinetics for different cavity-exciton detunings and photoexcitation conditions. We demonstrate three distinct effects of cavity coupling: first, a renormalization of the photonic density of states, akin to a Purcell effect, leads to enhanced absorption and isomerization rates at certain wavelengths, notably red-shifting the onset of photoisomerization. This effect is present under both strong and weak light-matter couplings. Second, kinetic competition between polariton localization into reactive molecular states and cavity losses leads to a suppression of the photoisomerization yield. Finally, our key result is that in reaction mixtures with multiple reactant isomers, exhibiting partially overlapping optical transitions and distinct isomerization pathways, the cavity resonance can be tuned to funnel photoexcitations into specific reactant isomers. Thus, upon decoherence, polaritons localize into a chosen isomer, selectively triggering the latter's photoisomerization despite initially being delocalized across all isomers. This result suggests that careful tuning of the cavity resonance is a promising avenue to steer chemical reactions and enhance product selectivity in reaction mixtures.

Nonadiabatic Conical Intersection Dynamics in the Local Diabatic Representation with Strang Splitting and Fourier Basis

We develop and implement an exact conical intersection nonadiabatic wave packet dynamics method that combines the local diabatic representation, Strang splitting for the total molecular propagator, and discrete variable representation with uniform grids. By employing the local diabatic representation, this method captures all nonadiabatic effects, including nonadiabatic transitions, electronic coherences, and geometric phase. Moreover, it is free of singularities in the first and second derivative couplings and does not require the electronic wave function to be continuous with respect to the nuclear coordinates. We further show that in contrast to the adiabatic representation, the split-operator method can be directly applied to the full molecular propagator with the locally diabatic ansatz. The Fourier series, employed as the primitive nuclear basis functions, is universal and can be applied to all types of reactive coordinates. The combination of local diabatic representation, Strang splitting, and Fourier basis allows numerically exact modeling of conical intersection quantum dynamics directly with adiabatic electronic states that can be obtained from standard electronic structure computations.

Molecular Polaritons for Chemistry, Photonics and Quantum Technologies

Molecular polaritons are quasiparticles resulting from the hybridization between molecular and photonic modes. These composite entities, bearing characteristics inherited from both constituents, exhibit modified energy levels and wave functions, thereby capturing the attention of chemists in the past decade. The potential to modify chemical reactions has spurred many investigations, alongside efforts to enhance and manipulate optical responses for photonic and quantum applications. This Review centers on the experimental advances in this burgeoning field. Commencing with an introduction of the fundamentals, including theoretical foundations and various cavity architectures, we discuss outcomes of polariton-modified chemical reactions. Furthermore, we navigate through the ongoing debates and uncertainties surrounding the underpinning mechanism of this innovative method of controlling chemistry. Emphasis is placed on gaining a comprehensive understanding of the energy dynamics of molecular polaritons, in particular, vibrational molecular polaritons─a pivotal facet in steering chemical reactions. Additionally, we discuss the unique capability of coherent two-dimensional spectroscopy to dissect polariton and dark mode dynamics, offering insights into the critical components within the cavity that alter chemical reactions. We further expand to the potential utility of molecular polaritons in quantum applications as well as precise manipulation of molecular and photonic polarizations, notably in the context of chiral phenomena. This discussion aspires to ignite deeper curiosity and engagement in revealing the physics underpinning polariton-modified molecular properties, and a broad fascination with harnessing photonic environments to control chemistry.

Non-Hermitian molecular dynamics simulations of exciton-polaritons in lossy cavities

The observation that materials can change their properties when placed inside or near an optical resonator has sparked a fervid interest in understanding the effects of strong light-matter coupling on molecular dynamics, and several approaches have been proposed to extend the methods of computational chemistry into this regime. Whereas the majority of these approaches have focused on modeling a single molecule coupled to a single cavity mode, changes to chemistry have so far only been observed experimentally when very many molecules are coupled collectively to multiple modes with short lifetimes. While atomistic simulations of many molecules coupled to multiple cavity modes have been performed with semi-classical molecular dynamics, an explicit description of cavity losses has so far been restricted to simulations in which only a very few molecular degrees of freedom were considered. Here, we have implemented an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian to explicitly treat cavity losses in large-scale semi-classical molecular dynamics simulations of organic polaritons and used it to perform both mean-field and surface hopping simulations of polariton relaxation, propagation, and energy transfer.

Finite temperature dynamics of the Holstein-Tavis-Cummings model

By employing the numerically accurate multiple Davydov Ansatz (mDA) formalism in combination with the thermo-field dynamics (TFD) representation of quantum mechanics, we systematically explore the influence of three parameters-temperature, photonic-mode detuning, and qubit-phonon coupling-on population dynamics and absorption spectra of the Holstein-Tavis-Cummings (HTC) model. It is found that elevated qubit-phonon couplings and/or temperatures have a similar impact on all dynamic observables: they suppress the amplitudes of Rabi oscillations in photonic populations as well as broaden the peaks and decrease their intensities in the absorption spectra. Our results unequivocally demonstrate that the HTC dynamics is very sensitive to the concerted variation of the three aforementioned parameters, and this finding can be used for fine-tuning polaritonic transport. The developed mDA-TFD methodology can be efficiently applied for modeling, predicting, optimizing, and comprehensively understanding dynamic and spectroscopic responses of actual molecular systems in microcavities.