Supersolidity of polariton condensates in photonic crystal waveguides

Abstract

Condensation of exciton-polaritons has been recently observed in one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides, exploiting the interplay of long-lived gap confined eigenmodes and negative mass polariton branches. Here we focus on the theoretical emergence of a second emission threshold, in addition to the one associated with condensation at zero-momentum, due to the nonlinear polariton scattering from the condensate into finite momentum eigenmodes. The physics of this spatially modulated condensate is related to a spontaneous breaking of both phase and translational symmetries simultaneously, bearing strong similarities with the highly sought supersolid phase in Helium and ultracold atomic gases but with a novel mechanism typical of the driven-dissipative scenario. We then propose clear-cut and unequivocal experimental signatures that would allow to identify supersolidity phenomena in polariton condensates