Superfluids of Light

Professor David Snoke, Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh

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It is possible to engineer a system in which photons are “dressed” to have an effective mass and repulsive interactions. In this case, they obey the same equations as bosonic atoms and can undergo Bose-Einstein condensation, leading to superfluidity. In this talk I will give an overview of past experimental work on this system, and will conclude with recent work showing drag and dissipation in condensates.

Prof. Snoke is a professor of physics at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Physics and Astronomy. In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Prof. Snoke experimental research group uses a wide array of optical methods to study fundamental questions of quantum mechanics in semiconductor systems. Their optical methods include ultrafast spectroscopy on femtosecond and picosecond time scales, single photon counting and correlation, real-space and momentum space (Fourier) imaging with CCD cameras, and nonlinear optics such as two-photon absorption and the optical Stark effect.

A new effort in their group is looking at the effect of a polariton condensate on electronic transport. This may allow a “light-induced superconductor”, in which there are dramatic effects on conduction when the polariton condensate appears.

This talk is part of an ongoing series of talks by US and Australian researchers presenting novel developments in condensed matter and cold atomic physics, enriching connections between the two physics communities. Co-presented by FLEET, Monash School of Physics and Astronomy, and the Joint Quantum Institute.

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