arXiv:2508.14928v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We revisit infrared Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) by reformulating the dressing of charged states in terms of a functional Berry connection. In this framework, the electron–photon cloud acquires a topological character, leading to a modification of the Rayleigh-Jeans limit of blackbody radiation. The deviation is controlled by a dimensionless parameter $epsilon$, estimated as $epsilon simeq (1.7$–$2.3)times 10^{-3}$ in the $80$-$110~mathrm{GHz}$ range, corresponding to a fractional shift of $sim 0.2%$. This effect lies within the sensitivity of current high-precision radiometry and, being system-independent, should be observable both in laboratory blackbody spectra and in the cosmic microwave background.