Bose-Einstein condensation has been observed in various physical systems over the past 30 years, including cold atomic gases and solid-state systems that host magnons, excitons, and exciton-polaritons. While massive particles readily exhibit Bose-Einstein condensation, photons, despite being bosons, have typically not demonstrated this behaviour. In blackbody radiation, a classic example of a photon gas in equilibrium, the chemical potential is zero, leading to photons disappearing rather than condensing at low temperatures. However, recent breakthroughs have enabled the observation of photon Bose-Einstein condensation in low-dimensional systems. It is done by confining light within optical microresonators filled with dye solutions, employing plasmonic nanoparticle arrays, and using erbium-doped fiber cavities. Recently, it has been observed in semiconductor lasers, making photon condensates closer to real-world applications than ever.

Condensates of Light is a biannual workshop discussing the recent developments in the field of photon condensates, including other quantum fluids of light, like cavity polaritons, propagating light in nonlinear media, and highly multimodal fibre systems. It was held firstly in 2016 in Chicheley Hall (UK), then in 2018 in Bad Honnef (Germany), 2020 as an online workhsop, 2022 in Leiden (Netherlands), and 2024 once again in Bad Honnef (Germany).

This year, Condensates of Light moves for the first time to Wrocław in Poland. We will have 2 tutorial speakers and 15 invited speakers, followed by spots for contributed talks and poster sessions. Workshop attendance is free of charge.