When Can a Cavity Move a Mott Transition? A Spectral-Density Criterion within Gutzwiller Theory

Can vacuum electromagnetic fluctuations shift a bulk Mott transition? Within the Gutzwiller variational method, we derive a criterion that separates collective spectroscopic hybridization from thermodynamic phase control. We show that a Mott transition shifts only when the electromagnetic environment supplies finite thermodynamic spectral weight with bond-scale variation. A joint frequency–spatial Pauli–Fierz density gives the leading shift. Surface phonon polaritons yield a $d^{-3}$-to-$d^{-5}$ crossover, while finite-coordination variational Monte Carlo supports the predicted critical coefficient and $M\mathrm{/}N$ scaling.