Work

Unveiling chiral electron–photon correlation effects in circularly polarized optical devices

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Strong coupling with circularly polarized vacuum fluctuations offers a viable route to manipulate molecular chirality. While experiments are advancing toward the realization of chiral cavities, a mean-field theoretical framework for describing electron-photon interaction in this platform has been missing. Here, we present a mean-field theory that can be systematically improved to capture the chiral correlation effects responsible for the enantioselective power of chiral light. We use strong coupling Møller-Plesset perturbation theory for accessing the excitation manifold of electrons and chiral virtual photons. We apply the developed methods to selected chiral systems and show that the mean-field theory captures cavity frequency dispersion but fails to describe the chiral discrimination arising from coupled electron-photon excitations.

Source: The Journal of Chemical Physics

DOI: 10.1063/5.0333560

Authors: Yassir El Moutaoukal, Rosario R. Riso, Andrea Bianchi, Henrik Koch

Institutions: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Scuola Normale Superiore

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: $3,500

Funders: European Commission, European Research Council