By M Knoop, N Madsen, and R C Thompson
World Scientific
Electromagnetic trapping, which is the confinement of charged particles by the use of combined electric and magnetic fields, has emerged as a very versatile tool for manipulating charged particles. It is extremely useful for performing precise measurements, for mass spectroscopy, plasma physics, and antihydrogen creation, as well as for applications including atomic clocks and trapped-ion quantum computers.
The textbook collects lectures on charged-particle trapping given by the major experts in the field at the Les Houches Winter School in January 2015. It discusses both the fundamental physics of this technique and its different applications. The first lectures are dedicated to explaining how to trap charged particles and the basic properties of Penning and radio-frequency (RF) traps. Following chapters are dedicated to practical problems related to trapping – vacuum systems and cooling techniques (including laser cooling), in particular, are discussed. Simulations, plasma physics, antihydrogen physics and other applications are then explained.
Being the result of lectures given to young physicists, the book is targeted towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students who are new to the topic. All of the chapters are accompanied by worked problems to help students to check their understanding of the subjects.
