Work

Light-Matter Correlation Energy Functional of the Cavity-Coupled Two-Dimensional Electron Gas via Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We perform extensive simulations of the two-dimensional cavity-coupled electron gas in a modulating potential as a minimal model for cavity quantum materials. These simulations are enabled by a newly developed quantum-electrodynamical (QED) auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo method. We present a procedure to greatly reduce finite-size effects in such calculations. Based on our results, we show that a modified version of weak-coupling perturbation theory is remarkably accurate for a large parameter region. We further provide a simple parametrization of the light-matter correlation energy as a functional of the cavity parameters and the electronic density. These results provide a crucial step toward a numerical foundation for the development of the QED density functional theory, which was previously reliant on analytical approximations, to allow quantitative modeling of a wide range of systems with light-matter coupling.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/lq1y-q74h

Authors: Lukas Weber, Miguel A. Morales, Johannes Flick, Shiwei Zhang, Angel Rubio

Institutions: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Flatiron Institute, The Graduate Center, CUNY, City College of New York

Language: English

Topic: Strong Light-Matter Interactions

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,750

Funders: Flatiron Health, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft