Eur. Phys. J. D (2013) 67: 248
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2013-40489-2

Regular Article

Regular and chaotic dynamics of a neutral atom in a magnetic trap

Departamento de Química, Área de Física Aplicada, Universidad de La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain

^a e-mail: josepablo.salas@unirioja.es

Received: 9 August 2013
Received in final form: 26 September 2013
Published online: 3 December 2013

Abstract

In the framework of the nonlinear mechanics, we study the dynamics of a neutral atom confined in a magnetic quadrupolar trap. Owing to the axial symmetry of the system, the z-component of the angular momentum p_φ is an integral of motion and, in cylindrical coordinates, the dynamics of the atom is modeled by a two-degree of freedom Hamiltonian. The structure and evolution of the phase space as a function of the energy is explored extensively by means of numerical techniques of continuation of families of periodic orbits and Poincaré surfaces of section.