q-LIMA project: light-matter interactions and the collective behavior of quantum 2D materials

Cooperative effects induced by light-matter interactions, such as Dicke superradiance, have been studied for decades, mainly focusing on light-matter interactions in atomic and molecular systems and promoting experimental findings in cavity quantum-electrodynamics (QED). In standard cavity-QED, direct interactions between matter constituents are negligible because weak, thus collective effects are solely due to effective interactions via microscopic interactions between matter constituents and a common cavity mode. Recent experimental advances in coupling graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), with optical microcavities laid the foundation for fundamental studies of cavity QED when the active medium supports direct interactions between medium excitations (electrons, holes, and excitons). Indeed, these interactions in 2D materials are strong and can be further enhanced by stacking them in a var der Waals (vdW) heterostructure.

In this talk, I will give a general overview of the project “q-LIMA”, which aims at investigating both theoretically and experimentally the equilibrium and non-equilibrium physics of strongly correlated electron systems interacting either with the quantized modes of a confined electromagnetic field or with photons of an external beam. q-LIMA is a new project that is funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research under the PRIN 2020 call and coordinated by University of Pisa, in partnership with Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR in Pisa, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati in Trieste, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Politecnico di Milano.

Project: "q-LIMA" Project under the PRIN 2020 call granted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research