Topological polaritons in a quantum spin Hall cavity

Abstract

We study the topological structure of matter-light excitations, so-called polaritons, in a quantum spin Hall insulator coupled to photonic cavity modes. We identify a topological invariant in the presence of time reversal (TR) symmetry, and demonstrate the existence of a TR-invariant topological phase. We find protected helical edge states with energies below the lower polariton branch and characteristic uncoupled excitonic states, both detectable by optical techniques. Applying a Zeeman field allows us to relate the topological index to the double coverage of the Bloch sphere by the polaritonic pseudospin.

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