Theory of optical spectral weights in Mott insulators with orbital degrees of freedom

Introducing partial sum rules for the optical multiplet transitions, we outline a unified approach to magnetic and optical properties of strongly correlated transition metal oxides. On the example of LaVO$_3$ we demonstrate how the temperature and polarization dependences of different components of the optical multiplet are determined by the underlying spin and orbital correlations dictated by the low-energy superexchange Hamiltonian. Thereby the optical data provides deep insight into the complex spin-orbital physics and the role played by orbital fluctuations.