dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaMagnetic trapping of neutral particles: Classical and Quantum-mechanical study of a Ioffe-Pritchard type trap
| Authors | S. Gov, S. Shtrikman, H. Thomas |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9907044 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9907044 |
| DOI | 10.1063/1.372444 |
Abstract
Recently, we developed a method for calculating the lifetime of a particle inside a magnetic trap with respect to spin flips, as a first step in our efforts to understand the quantum-mechanics of magnetic traps. The 1D toy model that was used in this study was physically unrealistic because the magnetic field was not curl-free. Here, we study, both classically and quantum-mechanically, the problem of a neutral particle with spin S, mass m and magnetic moment mu, moving in 3D in an inhomogeneous magnetic field corresponding to traps of the Ioffe-Pritchard, `clover-leaf' and `baseball' type. Defining by omega_p, omega_z and omega_r the precessional, the axial and the lateral vibrational frequencies, respectively, of the particle in the adiabatic potential, we find classically the region in the $(\omega_{r}% (omega_r -- omega_z) plane where the particle is trapped. Quantum-mechanically, we study the problem of a spin-one particle in the same field. Treating omega_r / omega_p and omega_z / omega_p as small parameters for the perturbation from the adiabatic Hamiltonian, we derive a closed-form expression for the transition rate 1/T_{esc} of the particle from its trapped ground-state. We find that in the extreme cases, the expression for 1/T_{esc} is dominated by the largest of the two frequencies omega_r and omega_z.
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"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:48.257000Z",
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"abstract": "Recently, we developed a method for calculating the lifetime of a particle\ninside a magnetic trap with respect to spin flips, as a first step in our\nefforts to understand the quantum-mechanics of magnetic traps. The 1D toy model\nthat was used in this study was physically unrealistic because the magnetic\nfield was not curl-free. Here, we study, both classically and\nquantum-mechanically, the problem of a neutral particle with spin S, mass m and\nmagnetic moment mu, moving in 3D in an inhomogeneous magnetic field\ncorresponding to traps of the Ioffe-Pritchard, `clover-leaf\u0027 and `baseball\u0027\ntype. Defining by omega_p, omega_z and omega_r the precessional, the axial and\nthe lateral vibrational frequencies, respectively, of the particle in the\nadiabatic potential, we find classically the region in the $(\\omega_{r}%\n(omega_r -- omega_z) plane where the particle is trapped.\n Quantum-mechanically, we study the problem of a spin-one particle in the same\nfield. Treating omega_r / omega_p and omega_z / omega_p as small parameters for\nthe perturbation from the adiabatic Hamiltonian, we derive a closed-form\nexpression for the transition rate 1/T_{esc} of the particle from its trapped\nground-state. We find that in the extreme cases, the expression for 1/T_{esc}\nis dominated by the largest of the two frequencies omega_r and omega_z.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9907044",
"authors": [
"S. Gov",
"S. Shtrikman",
"H. Thomas"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1063/1.372444",
"title": "Magnetic trapping of neutral particles: Classical and Quantum-mechanical study of a Ioffe-Pritchard type trap",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9907044"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
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