Theory of fractional quantum Hall liquids coupled to quantum light and emergent graviton-polaritons

Abstract

Recent breakthrough experiments have demonstrated how it is now possible to explore the dynamics of quantum Hall states interacting with quantum electromagnetic cavity fields. While the impact of strongly coupled non-local cavity modes on integer quantum Hall physics has been recently addressed, its effects on fractional quantum Hall (FQH) liquids -- and, more generally, fractionalized states of matter -- remain largely unexplored. In this work, we develop a theoretical framework for the understanding of FQH states coupled to quantum light. In particular, combining analytical arguments with tensor network simulations, we study the dynamics of a $\nu=1/3$ Laughlin state in a single-mode cavity with finite electric field gradients. We find that the topological signatures of the FQH state remain robust against the non-local cavity vacuum fluctuations, as indicated by the endurance of the quantized Hall resistivity. The entanglement spectra, however, carry direct fingerprints of light-matter entanglement and topology, revealing peculiar polaritonic replicas of the $U(1)$ counting. As a further response to cavity fluctuations, we also find a squeezed FQH geometry, encoded in long-wavelength correlations. By exploring the low-energy excited spectrum inside the FQH phase, we identify a new neutral quasiparticle, the graviton-polariton, arising from the hybridization between quadrupolar FQH collective excitations (known as gravitons) and light. Pushing the light-matter interaction to ultra-strong coupling regimes we find other two important effects, a cavity vacuum-induced Stark shift for charged quasi-particles and a potential instability towards a density modulated stripe phase, competing against the phase separation driven by the Stark shift. Finally, we discuss the experimental implications of our findings and possible extension of our results to more complex scenarios.