Molecular polaritons are the optical excitations which emerge when molecular transitions interact strongly with confined electromagnetic fields. Increasing interest in the hybrid molecular-photonic materials that host these excitations stems from recent observations of their novel and tunable chemistry. Some of the remarkable functionalities exhibited by polaritons include the ability to induce long-range excitation energy transfer, enhance charge conductivity, and inhibit or accelerate chemical reactions. In this review, we explain the effective theories of molecular polaritons which form a basis for the interpretation and guidance of experiments at the strong coupling limit. The theoretical discussion is illustrated with the analysis of innovative applications of strongly coupled molecular-photonic systems to chemical phenomena of fundamental importance to future technologies.

中文翻译：

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极化子化学：用光腔控制分子动力学

分子极化子是分子跃迁与有限电磁场强烈相互作用时出现的光学激发。人们对承载这些激发的混合分子光子材料越来越感兴趣，源于最近对其新颖且可调谐化学的观察。极化激元表现出的一些显着功能包括诱导长程激发能量转移、增强电荷传导性以及抑制或加速化学反应的能力。在这篇综述中，我们解释了分子极化子的有效理论，这些理论为强耦合极限下的实验的解释和指导奠定了基础。通过分析强耦合分子光子系统在对未来技术至关重要的化学现象中的创新应用，阐述了理论讨论。