Certifying multi-mode light-matter interaction in lossy resonators

Quantum models based on few-mode Master equations have been a central tool in the study of resonator quantum electrodynamics, extending the seminal single-mode Jaynes-Cummings model to include loss and multiple modes. Despite their broad application range, previous approaches within this framework have either relied on a Markov approximation or a fitting procedure. By combining ideas from pseudomode and quasinormal mode theory, we develop a certification criterion for multi-mode effects in lossy resonators. It is based on a witness observable, and neither requires a fitting procedure nor a Markov approximation. Using the resulting criterion, we demonstrate that such multi-mode effects are important for understanding previous experiments in X-ray cavity QED with Mössbauer nuclei and that they allow one to tune the nuclear ensemble properties.