Bose-Einstein condensation of microcavity polaritons

After resuming the basic facts about Bose-Einstein condensation of weakly interacting systems, we review the main experimental and theoretical works aimed at the realization of this intriguing phenomenon in the system of microcavity polaritons. All the experimental results until present suggest that Bose-Einstein condensation is still eluding the experimentalists' efforts. On the theoretical side, only recently polaritons have been described within a quantum field theory of an interacting Bose gas, suggesting that polariton condensation might occur at least as a consequence of polariton parametric scattering under resonant excitation. (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.