Dimensional crossover in a quantum gas of light

The dimensionality of a system profoundly influences its physical behaviour, leading to the emergence of different states of matter in many-body quantum systems. In lower dimensions, fluctuations increase and lead to the suppression of long-range order. For example, in bosonic gases, Bose-Einstein condensation in one dimension requires stronger confinement than in two dimensions. Here we observe the dimensional crossover from one to two dimensions in a harmonically trapped photon gas and study its properties. The photons are trapped in a dye microcavity where polymer nanostructures provide the trapping potential for the photon gas. By varying the aspect ratio of the harmonic trap, we tune from isotropic two-dimensional confinement to an anisotropic, highly elongated one-dimensional trapping potential. Along this transition, we determine the caloric properties of the photon gas and find a softening of the second-order Bose–Einstein condensation phase transition observed in two dimensions to a crossover behaviour in one dimension.