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Gravitational Wave Imprints on Spontaneous Emission
Jerzy Paczos1, Navdeep Arya1, Sofia Qvarfort1,2
1Stockholm University, Department of Physics, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Physical Review Letters
|April 3, 2026
Summary
Gravitational waves can change how atoms emit light, affecting the emission spectrum. This effect, measurable in cold-atom experiments, suggests spontaneous emission can probe gravitational waves.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- General relativity
- Astrophysics
Background:
- Limited understanding of quantum-general relativity interplay.
- Scarcity of observable predictions in extreme regimes.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate atom-field systems in curved spacetime.
- Analyze effects of gravitational waves on atomic spontaneous emission.
Main Methods:
- Modeling a combined atom-field system in a gravitational-wave background.
- Analyzing spontaneous emission spectrum changes.
- Quantifying measurement potential using classical and quantum Fisher information.
Main Results:
- Plane gravitational waves induce direction-dependent spectral changes in spontaneous emission.
- Total atomic decay rate is unaffected.
- Imprints of gravitational waves are observed in the composite atom-field system's evolution.
Conclusions:
- Spontaneous emission is a potential probe for low-frequency gravitational waves.
- Effects are measurable with current cold-atom experimental capabilities.
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