{
  "abstract": "Studying Gravitational Waves (GWs) provide a unique probe of the interplay between quantum matter and the dynamics of spacetime. We develop a QED framework for spontaneous emission in the presence of a weak classical GW by quantizing the electromagnetic field in a linearized gravitational background. We show that a passing GW dynamically phase-modulates vacuum electromagnetic modes, dressing photon states into a Floquet ladder of sidebands separated by the GW frequency. While the total spontaneous decay rate remains unchanged to first order in the GW strain, the emission pattern develops a characteristic spin-2 quadrupolar angular redistribution modulated with the GW phase. For finite interaction times, interference between the carrier and Floquet sidebands generates phase-dependent spectral asymmetries in the transient emission spectrum. To explore experimental observability, we formulate a cavity-QED master equation description and propose a differential cross-cavity detection protocol employing Rydberg ensembles or highly charged ions. These results establish cavity QED as a promising platform for exploring quantum electrodynamics in dynamical spacetime and for high-frequency gravitational-wave detection.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.32905",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Sohrab Rahvar"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6qea6b0r4vk4r.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.32905",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6qea6b0r4vk4r",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.32905",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.IM"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214753580",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.32905",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6qea6b0r4vk4r.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:25:12Z",
      "native_id": "2609.32905",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.32905"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.IM",
      "subfield": "instrumentation-methods"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Gravitational-Wave Modulation of Atomic Spontaneous Emission: Electrodynamical Theory, Quadrupolar Redistribution, and Rydberg Cavity Metrology",
  "title_text": "Gravitational-Wave Modulation of Atomic Spontaneous Emission: Electrodynamical Theory, Quadrupolar Redistribution, and Rydberg Cavity Metrology",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:25:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6qea6b0r4vk4r",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}