Polaritons: When light meets molecules: mysteries, challenges, and opportunities

Please join Yale Chemistry for a Silliman Seminar in theory chemistry with Prof. Pengfei Huo, Dean and Laura Marvin Professor in Physical Chemistry and Associate Professor of Optics, from Rochester University.

Summary: Coupling molecules to confined electromagnetic fields inside optical microcavities gives rise to hybrid light–matter states known as polaritons, opening new avenues to control chemical phenomena. Recent experiments suggest that strong light–matter coupling can alter photochemical pathways, modify ground-state reactivity, and enhance energy and charge transport—yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, I will present theoretical advances developed in my group that enable accurate ab initio simulations of molecular response properties and dynamics under strong coupling to quantized radiation fields. These methods provide new insights into how cavity photons reshape molecular dynamical behavior. I will also introduce a recently proposed mechanism that explains changes in ground-state chemical reactivity under vibrational strong coupling. Together, these results offer new theoretical tools and conceptual mechanistic pictures for understanding and predicting polaritonic effects in chemistry, and highlight emerging opportunities for controlling chemical processes with light.

Bio: Pengfei (Frank) Huo is the Dean and Laura Marvin Endowed Professor in Physical Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Rochester, with a joint appointment as Associate Professor of Optics. His research focuses on theoretical chemistry, quantum dynamics, quantum optics, cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), light–matter interactions, and polariton chemistry. His group develops new theoretical and computational approaches to understand and control chemical reactivity driven by intrinsically quantum-mechanical phenomena. Prof. Huo has received numerous honors for his research, including the 2026 Emily A. Carter Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society, the Hirschfelder Visiting Scholar Award from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the NSF CAREER Award, the Cottrell Scholar Award, and the OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry from the ACS. Prof. Huo received his Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Boston University and conducted postdoctoral research at Caltech before joining the University of Rochester. For more information on Prof. Huo's research: Research - Huo Group

Hosted by Prof. Tianyu Zhu.

Sponsored by the Mrs. Hepsa Ely Silliman Memorial Fund.