Disorder in cavity-modified transport and chemistry || Johannes Schachenmayer

Theoretically explaining experimental observations of cavity-modified collective physics and chemistry remains to be a major challenge. Here I discuss a bottom-up approach with minimal quantum many-body models, which include electronic, photonic, and motional degrees of freedom in their simplest form. Solving these (already complex) many-body models with quantum optics tools and advanced numerical methods allows us to gain insight on fundamental physical processes.
In this talk I discuss the modification of localization properties of eigenstates due to an electronic coupling to a cavity mode. As a new feature, I show how dark states acquire an unexpected "semi-localized" behavior with unusual properties in terms of level statistics and other localization quantifiers. I then discuss how such states play a crucial role for cavity-modified vibrational dynamics, and can lead e.g. to disorder-enhanced entanglement of vibrational degrees of freedom.