Frustrated polaritons

Abstract

Artificially engineered light-matter systems constitute a novel, versatile architecture for the quantum simulation of driven, dissipative phase transitions and non-equilibrium quantum many-body systems. Here, we review recent experimental as well as theoretical works on the simulation of geometrical frustration in interacting photonic systems out of equilibrium. In particular, we discuss two recent discoveries at the interface of quantum optics and condensed matter physics: (i) the experimental achievement of bosonic condensation into a flat energy band and (ii) the theoretical prediction of crystalline phases of light in a frustrated qubit-cavity array. We show that this new line of research leads to novel and unique tools for the experimental investigation of frustrated systems and holds the potential to create new phases of light and matter with interesting spatial structure.