Polaritons as quantum fluids of light: dynamics and many-body effects

Seminar

Due to the strong coupling between photons and excitons in semiconductor microcavities, the non-linear interactions between the photons become sufficiently large to envisage collective effects. One of the main consequences is the formation of quantum fluids of light at relatively high temperatures. In this talk, I propose to discuss some aspects of the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates of polaritons and how they can be used to study physical phenomena typical from condensed matter. In particular, I will discuss the occurrence of dynamical instabilities and the formation of a Wigner crystal in a gas of dark half-solitons, the formation and transport of very light magnetic monopoles ("magnetricity"), and the engineering of artificial gauge fields for photons. To conclude, I will present some preliminary results on the exciton relaxation of polariton condensates.

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