Related papers: Light, Matter, Action: Shining light on active mat…
Motivated by a revision of the classical equations of electromagnetism that allow for the inclusion of solitary waves in the solution space, the material collected in these notes examines the consequences of adopting the modified model in…
Superfluidity, the ability of a fluid to move without dissipation, is one of the most spectacular manifestations of the quantum nature of matter. We explore here the possibility of superfluid motion of light. Controlling the speed of a…
Thanks to a constant energy input, active matter can self-assemble into phases with complex architectures and functionalities such as living clusters that dynamically form, reshape and break-up, which are forbidden in equilibrium materials…
Active matter classifies systems consisting of self-propelled units which convert the energy stored locally or extracted from their environment into directed motion. It has recently attracted considerable attention due to rich new physics…
We review recent progress in utilizing ultrafast light-matter interaction to control the macroscopic properties of quantum materials. Particular emphasis is placed on photoinduced phenomena that do not result from ultrafast heating effects…
Light-matter interactions are often considered governed by the electric optical field only, leaving aside the magnetic component of light. However, the magnetic part plays a determining role in many optical processes from light and…
Soft condensed matter physics is the study of materials, such as fluids, liquid crystals, polymers, colloids, and emulsions, that are ``soft" to the touch. This article will review some properties, such as the dominance of entropy, that are…
Light scattering is one of the most established wave phenomena in optics, lying at the heart of light-matter interactions and of crucial importance for nanophotonic applications. Passivity, causality and energy conservation imply strict…
The analysis of symmetries is extremely useful across science. In Physics, symmetries are used to derive conservation laws and selection rules for transitions in interacting systems. In the early days of nonlinear optics (NLO), symmetries…
Important recent advances in transmission electron microscopy instrumentation and capabilities have made it indispensable for atomic-scale materials characterization. At the same time, the availability of two-dimensional materials has…
This paper reviews some of our recent results in nonlinear atom optics. In addition to nonlinear wave-mixing between matter waves, we also discuss the dynamical interplay between optical and matter waves. This new paradigm, which is now…
Reflection, refraction, and absorption of light by material media are, in general, accompanied by a transfer of optical energy and momentum to the media. Consequently, the eigen-modes of mechanical vibration (phonons) created in the process…
Biological molecules, like all active matter, use free energy to generate force and motion which drive them out of thermal equilibrium, and undergo inherent dynamic interconversion between metastable free energy states separated by levels…
Shining light through walls? At first glance this sounds crazy. However, very feeble gravitational and electroweak effects allow for this exotic possibility. Unfortunately, with present and near future technologies the opportunity to…
A new perspective on how to manipulate molecules by means of very strong laser pulses is emerging with insights from the so-called light-induced potentials, which are the adiabatic potential energy surfaces of molecules severely distorted…
We theoretically study the propagation of light through a cold atomic medium, where the effects of motion, laser intensity, atomic density, and polarization can all modify the properties of the scattered light. We present two different…
The fast-growing field of soft matter research requires increasingly sophisticated tools for experimental studies. One of the oldest and most widely used tools to study soft matter systems is optical microscopy. Recent advances in optical…
Light-matter interaction not only plays an instrumental role in characterizing materials' properties via various spectroscopic techniques but also provides a general strategy to manipulate material properties via the design of novel…
Understanding the momentum of light when propagating through optical media is not only fundamental for studies as varied as classical electrodynamics and polaritonics in condensed matter physics, but also for important applications such as…
We further generalize the powerful method, which we have recently developed for description of the background matter influence on neutrinos, for the case of an electron moving in matter. On the basis of the modified Dirac equation for the…