Fermi edge singularities for excitons created in front of a metal

We predict significant changes in the absorption spectrum of excitons created close to a metal. These changes, which include shifts, splittings and tails on the high-energy sides, result from many-body interactions between the metal Fermi sea and the suddenly photocreated electron-hole pair. They have thus the same origin as Fermi edge singularities. Similar changes are expected in the optical transitions of atoms trapped close to a metallic mirror