Collective response in light-matter interaction; The interplay between strong coupling, local dynamics and disorder

Abraham Nitzan University of Pennsylvania and Tel Aviv University

Because molecular size is much smaller than optical wavelength molecules can interact with light collectively. Actual manifestations of such collective response depend on other factors such as dephasing and disorder. Under strong (molecules-light) coupling conditions such collective response can be more pronounced because collective mode are energy-shifted from the spectrum of individual emitters and appear as polaritonic spectral features in linear and non-linear optical signals. In this talk I will describe our recent studies of several phenomena that reflect this interplay between collective response, local dynamics and (static and dynamic) disorder.