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arXiv:1106.5390 · Physical Review A

Stochastic dynamics of an electron in a Penning trap: Phase flips correlated with amplitude collapses and revivals

S. Brouard, Jesús Plata

Published Jun 13, 2011• 1 citation
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Abstract

We study the effect of noise on the axial mode of an electron in a Penning trap under parametric-resonance conditions. Our approach, based on the application of averaging techniques to the description of the dynamics, provides an understanding of the random phase flips detected in recent experiments. The observed correlation between the phase jumps and the amplitude collapses is explained. Moreover, we discuss the actual relevance of noise color to the identified phase-switching mechanism. Our approach is then generalized to analyze the persistence of the stochastic phase flips in the dynamics of a cloud of $N$ electrons. In particular, we characterize the detected scaling of the phase-jump rate with the number of electrons.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.063408

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We study the effect of noise on the axial mode of an electron in a Penning trap under parametric-resonance conditions. Our approach, based on the application of averaging techniques to the description of the dynamics, provides an understanding of the random phase flips detected in recent experiments. The observed correlation between the phase jumps and the amplitude collapses is explained. Moreover, we discuss the actual relevance of noise color to the identified phase-switching mechanism. Our approach is then generalized to analyze the persistence of the stochastic phase flips in the dynamics of a cloud of NNN electrons. In particular, we characterize the detected scaling of the phase-jump rate with the number of electrons.
The effect of a driving field on the cyclotron mode of a relativistic electron in a Penning trap is studied analytically. The Hamiltonian dynamics of this driven nonlinear oscillator is analyzed by using linearization techniques and displaced squeezed-state formalism. With the approximate analytical expressions obtained for the eigenstates in this approach, a simplified treatment of the dissipative dynamics is carried out and some of the nontrivial features found in a recent numerical study [D. Enzer and G. Gabrielse, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1211 (1997)] are unraveled. The emergence of different time scales and the generation of a metastable statistical mixture are understood in terms of the changes induced in the structure of the master equation by the nonuniform characteristics of the eigenstates; the partial revivals of specific coherent states are accounted for by the evolution of particular coherences. The control of these effects by a proper choice of the driving parameters is discussed.
The effect of random fields on the internal dynamics of trapped ions is studied analytically. General characteristics of the dependence of the dephasing on the noise statistics are identified: the form of the initial decay of the coherences is determined by the probability distribution; effects of noise color, in particular, collapses and revivals rooted in spectral concentration of the fluctuations, are apparent in a transient regime; at large times, exponential decay sets in for widely different noise properties. The study is particularized to magnetic-field fluctuations: features distinctive of the linear and quadratic Zeeman shifts are traced. The scaling of the dephasing with the number of ions is analyzed; the implications for the realization of decoherence-free states are discussed.
A subset of electrostatic modes of a cold cloud of electrons trapped in a Penning trap has been observed and identified using a recent theoretical model. The detection of these modes is accomplished using electronic techniques which could apply to any ion species. The modes are observed in the low density, low rotation limit of the cloud where the electrons approach a two-dimensional charged disk. We observe both axially symmetric and asymmetric drumhead modes. By measuring the frequency of these modes the shape, rotation frequency, and density of the cloud is found in a real-time non-destructive manner. In addition, it is found that radio-frequency sideband cooling compresses the cloud increasing its density. The ability to measure and control the density of a trapped ion cloud might be useful for experiments on low-temperature ion/neutral collisions or recombination rates.
A detailed quantum-mechanical description of an electron in a Penning trap is developed in which nonlinear relativistic effects as well as stochastic effects arising from radiative damping and the continuous measurement of the electronic motion are taken into account. A master equation is derived that describes the influence of these environmental effects on the bistable dynamics of the electron. Manifestations of measurement-induced fluctuations on the bistable dynamics of individual continuous measurement processes are investigated with the help of the quantum state diffusion model.
The motion of a particle in a finite-depth confining potential, such as that of an electromagnetically trapped atom or ion, is approximately harmonic at low energy and softens as the escape energy is approached. When the particle is driven by a stochastic force, the heating and escape times depend sensitively on the noise power spectrum. We study escape times of particles in softening potentials driven by power-law colored noise. We identify two nested conditions for weak noise: the particle must execute many oscillations before escape, and noise forces must be small relative to forces exerted by the trap so as not to tilt the potential appreciably. In this regime, we derive expressions for the mean escape time using stochastic averaging techniques and compare them with Monte Carlo simulations of the full equations of motion. We also examine the crossover to regimes where these conditions are not met and large quasi-static forces give rise to additional escape mechanisms. Applying these results to an experimental measurement of lifetimes in a microfabricated ion trap, we find that spectral color alone cannot account for the rapid escape rates observed, whereas quasi-static barrier tilting by a stray field of plausible magnitude could. These results are relevant to the heating and escape of trapped atoms due to noisy force fields, as well as to other nonlinear oscillators subject to colored noise.
Electronic feedback is used to self-excite the axial oscillation of a single electron in a Penning trap. Large, stable, easily detected oscillations arise even in an anharmonic potential. Amplitudes are controlled by adjusting the feedback gain, and frequencies can be made nearly independent of amplitude fluctuations. Quantum jump spectroscopy of a perpendicular cyclotron motion reveals the absolute temperature and amplitude of the self-excited oscillation. The possibility to quickly measure parts per billion frequency shifts could open the way to improved measurements of e(-), e(+), p, and (-)p magnetic moments.