Strongly correlated electron–photon systems

An important goal of modern condensed-matter physics involves the search for states of matter with emergent properties and desirable functionalities. Although the tools for material design remain relatively limited, notable advances have been recently achieved by controlling interactions at heterointerfaces, precise alignment of low-dimensional materials and the use of extreme pressures. Here we highlight a paradigm based on controlling light–matter interactions, which provides a way to manipulate and synthesize strongly correlated quantum matter. We consider the case in which both electron–electron and electron–photon interactions are strong and give rise to a variety of phenomena. Photon-mediated superconductivity, cavity fractional quantum Hall physics and optically driven topological phenomena in low dimensions are among the frontiers discussed in this Perspective, which highlights a field that we term here ‘strongly correlated electron–photon science’.