Persistent current induced by quantum light

Abstract

It is demonstrated that the strong coupling of an electron gas to photons in systems with broken time-reversal symmetry results in bound electron-photon states which cannot be backscattered elastically. As a consequence, the electron gas can flow without dissipation. This quantum macroscopic phenomenon leads to the unconventional superconductivity which is analyzed theoretically for a two-dimensional electron system in a semiconductor quantum well exposed to an in-plane magnetic field.