Optomechanics with multiple optical and vibrational modes

The field of cavity optomechanics treats the interaction between light and nano- and micro-mechanical systems. Rapid progress during the past few years has seen displacement detection near the standard quantum limit and laser-cooling near to the quantum ground state in a large variety of devices. The typical setup comprises one optical mode interacting with one vibrational mode. Recent experimental developments have resulted in systems where more modes contribute to the physics in an essential way, leading to new features. Here, we discuss two examples, the mechanically driven coherent photon dynamics and the collective dynamics of optomechanical arrays