Bose Polaron in a quantum fluid of light

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of a Bose polaron in a driven-dissipative quantum fluid of light, revealing unique dynamical regimes and providing insights into superfluidity in such systems.

Contribution

It introduces a nonequilibrium analysis of Bose polarons in light fluids, including effective mass, drag force, and trajectories, highlighting novel dynamical phenomena.

Findings

Identification of different dynamical regimes including acceleration against flow

Calculation of polaron effective mass and drag force in a driven-dissipative system

Demonstration of impurity dynamics as a probe for superfluidity in quantum light fluids

Abstract

We study the Bose polaron problem in a nonequilibrium setting, by considering an impurity embedded in a quantum fluid of light realized by exciton-polaritons in a microcavity, subject to a coherent drive and dissipation on account of pump and cavity losses. We obtain the polaron effective mass, the drag force acting on the impurity, and determine polaron trajectories at a semiclassical level. We find different dynamical regimes, originating from the unique features of the excitation spectrum of driven-dissipative polariton fluids, in particular a non-trivial regime of acceleration against the flow. Our work promotes the study of impurity dynamics as an alternative testbed for probing superfluidity in quantum fluids of light.