Effects of Gravitational Waves on a Highly Excited Hydrogen-like Atom

Effects of gravitational waves on a highly excited hydrogen-like atom near ionization threshold are investigated. The plane gravitational waves are described on the basis of Linearized General Relativity. The quantum mechanical description of electron coupled to the field of gravitational waves and electromagnetic is governed by the generalized Dirac equation to curved spacetime. To obtained systematically the physical interpretation of interaction terms in non-relativistic limit, the Exact Foldy-Wouthuysen (EFW) transformation has been performed. Then the calculation of energy correction and deviation of Rabi oscillation are carried out on the perturbation theory approach. The discussion of sensitivity to the gravitational waves generated from the compact astronomical sources are also presented.