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arXiv · 2610.33709

Deep-Microscopic Photonic Bandstructure of a Two-Dimensional Honeycomb Lattice

Pronoy Das·Sathwik Bharadwaj·Wenbo Sun·Zubin Jacob
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Abstract

Conventional descriptions of light in materials rely on macroscopic models that average the optical response over the microscopic lattice structures. These models are deployed in the semi-classical limit, where the collective local response over many lattice sites is adequate. However, they fail to capture the full spatial dispersion, which requires a lattice-resolved description of light. We address this limitation by formulating a deep-microscopic nonlocal theory of the photon based on the Maxwell Hamiltonian and its characteristic equation. The solution reveals the full spatial dispersion in the form of deep-microscopic photonic bandstructure, and corresponding real-space Bloch field textures. We demonstrate our theory for a two-dimensional (2D) tight-binding model of a gapped honeycomb lattice. Our framework thus extends photons to the same microscopic footing as electrons or phonons, providing a unified route to studying topology, dissipation, and quantum fluctuations of light in dispersive materials.

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Pronoy Das, Sathwik Bharadwaj, Wenbo Sun, Zubin Jacob. 2026-10-24. Deep-Microscopic Photonic Bandstructure of a Two-Dimensional Honeycomb Lattice. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33709

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