2018/08/31 by Sayantani Bera, Shreya Banerjee, Bera, Sayantani +1
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #FOS: Physical sciences #History and advancements in chemistry #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Radioactive Decay and Measurement Techniques #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1808.10766
6 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2018/08/31 · openalex publication_date 2018/08/31 · arxiv updated 2018/09/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Paul traps are ion traps that are widely used in spectroscopic experiments to confine and stabilize a charged particle within a small region using oscillating electric fields. The dynamics of the particle inside a Paul trap is described by Mathieu equations. It has been proposed that such traps can be used to detect the effects produced by spontaneous collapse of the associated wavefunction, as described by the model of CSL (Continuous Spontaneous Localization). This model is a non-linear, stochastic and non-relativistic modification to the Schrödinger equation which predicts an additional random motion of particles other than environmental effects. In this paper, we discuss the possibility that such a random motion can throw a particle out of its stable configuration within the Paul trap. We study the changes in the stability diagram of a Paul trap in the presence of CSL. We also constrain the CSL parameter space by assuming the fact that the stability diagram is not significantly altered. The bounds thus obtained are weaker than those coming from X-ray emission from Ge slab.