State of matter

Physics

Charge (physics)

Pure mathematics

Mathematics

Laser

Coupling (piping)

Chemical physics

Metallurgy

Materials science

Condensed matter physics

Electromagnetic field

Quantum mechanics

Field (mathematics)

Science

Captivating cavities Laser technology is a familiar example of how confining light between two mirrors can tune its properties. Quantum mechanics also dictates that even without extraneous light, matter confined in a cavity resonant with its electronic or vibrational transitions can couple with vacuum electromagnetic field fluctuations. Garcia-Vidal et al. review the remarkable and still somewhat mysterious implications of this “strong-coupling” regime, with manifestations ranging from enhanced charge transport to site-selective chemical reactivity across a range of molecular and solid-state materials. Science , abd0336, this issue p. eabd0336

Manipulating matter by strong coupling to vacuum fields