Energy spectrum and structure of one-dimensional few-electron Wigner crystals with and without coupling to light in cavity

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation and properties of one-dimensional Wigner crystals in few-electron systems, highlighting how light coupling can induce crystal formation under specific conditions, using advanced computational methods.

Contribution

It demonstrates that coupling electrons to light can lead to Wigner crystal formation in 1D systems, revealing a new mechanism influenced by the dipole self-interaction term.

Findings

Wigner crystal-like structures can form in 1D systems with light coupling.

Weak external confinement is necessary for crystal formation.

Explicitly correlated Gaussian basis effectively computes energies and wave functions.

Abstract

Explicitly Correlated Gaussian basis is used to calculate the energies and wave functions of one dimensional few-electron systems in confinement potentials created by external potentials or coupling to light in cavity. The appearance and properties of Wigner crystal-like structures are discussed. It is shown that one dimensional Wigner crystals can be formed by coupling electrons to light due to the dipole self-interaction term in the light-matter Hamiltonian, provided an additional extremely weak confining potential is present.