Cavity Multimodes as an Array for High-Frequency Gravitational Waves
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology2026-01-13v2High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaInstrumentation and Methods for AstrophysicsGeneral Relativity and Quantum CosmologyHigh Energy Physics - Experiment
Microwave cavities operated in the presence of a background magnetic field provide a promising avenue for detecting high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs). We demonstrate for the first time that the distinct antenna patterns of multiple electromagnetic modes within a single cavity enable localization and reconstruction of key properties of an incoming HFGW signal, including its polarization ratio and frequency drift rate. Using a 9-cell cavity commonly employed in particle accelerators as a representative example, we analyze the time-domain response of 18 nearly degenerate modes, which can be sequentially excited by a frequency-drifting signal. The sensitivity is further enhanced by the number of available modes, in close analogy to the scaling achieved by a network of independent detectors, enabling sensitivity to astrophysically plausible binary sources.
@article{arxiv.2601.03341,
title = {Cavity Multimodes as an Array for High-Frequency Gravitational Waves},
author = {Diego Blas and Yifan Chen and Yuxin Liu and Yanfei Shang and Jing Shu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.03341},
year = {2026}
}