We have performed a bottom-up approach and have systematically investigated various effects of molecular strong light-matter coupling.
We have started by working on exploring collective effects, which are of fundamental importance in experiments but not yet very well understood.
This includes revisiting basic quantum optics models, such as the Tavis-Cummings model, and integrating electronic structure methods
quantized field modes.
We have extensively studied the influence of dissipative effects, such as the influence of poor mirrors with a high leakage.
We could demonstrate for the single-molecule model that leaky mirrors, which result in short photon lifetimes, play a crucial role in the reaction mechanism by using a high-level numerical method.
We also have studied various molecular systems and their photochemical properties under strong coupling.
These molecular systems include pyrrole, dioxetane, naphthalene, and BODIPY. Our studies could show that
in the single-molecule case, nonradiative dynamics could be modified by coupling electronic molecular transitions to
a quantized field mode. Depending on coupling strength and the resonance frequency, the excited states could either
be stabilized, or decay could be enhanced.
Molecular systems such as BODIPY are used in organic solar cell assembly and thus are interesting targets for
modification by means of a cavity.
We have developed and utilized electronic structure methods based on the cavity Born-Oppenheimer approximations.
These methods have allowed us to gain a more in-depth understanding of the interplay between tightly confined light fields and
the electronic structure of molecules. These effects are important for the understanding of collective interactions that
mediated by the quantized modes of the cavity.
