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Article

Some Properties of Motion of Atoms near a Charged Wire

Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Žilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Mathematics 2023, 11(3), 634; https://doi.org/10.3390/math11030634
Submission received: 19 December 2022 / Revised: 17 January 2023 / Accepted: 22 January 2023 / Published: 27 January 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nonlinear Dynamics Systems with Hysteresis)

Abstract

:
We are concerned with the classical approach to atomic motions in the vicinity of a wire charged by an oscillating voltage. This mechanism has been proposed to serve for trapping cold neutral atoms. We prove that, under some conditions, the atom must either collide with the wire or escape to infinity in the radial direction. The presented results for the atom–wire problem extend and complement some earlier ones in the literature.
MSC:
70K42; 37J40; 34C25

1. Introduction

W. Paul [1] presented the electromagnetic trapping mechanism for the cold atoms. L. S. Brawn [2] also investigated this problem. In [3], L. V. Hau et al. studied the interaction of a neutral atom with a charged wire. The charge varies sinusoidally in time. Using numerical simulations, authors [3] predicted a range of parameters for which bounded motions occur for both the classical and quantum problems. Ch. King and A. Leśniewski [4] proved that for one range of parameters all solutions of the equation of motion either hit the wire or escape to infinity. In addition, for another range of parameters, there are solutions that remain within a finite, non-zero distance of the wire. J. Lei and M. Zhang [5] study the Lyapunov stability of the periodic motion of an atom in the vicinity of an infinite straight wire with an oscillating charge.
In this paper, we present that for some range of parameters all solutions of the equation of motion either hit the wire or escape to infinity in the radial direction. That is, there is no bounded motion in the atom–wire regime. Atom hits the wire and is probably absorbed into the surface of the wire or escapes to infinity in the radial direction. In the paper, we examine the influence of history on the motion of atoms near a charged wire. Some presented results extend and complement earlier ones in the literature. A numerical simulation is also presented.

2. Properties of Solutions of Equation of Atoms Motion

We consider a neutral atom of mass M moving in a vicinity of a rigid, straight wire carrying a uniformly distributed time-dependent charge q ( t ) . This produces the potential-energy function
V ( r ) = 2 α q 2 r 2 ,
where r is the distance from the wire and α is the atom’s polarizability. The Hamiltonian for the atom’s radial motion is given by [3]
H ( r , p r ) = p r 2 2 M 2 α q 2 r 2 + L 2 2 M r 2 ,
with radial momentum p r = M d r / d t and fixed angular momentum L. The radial equation of motion follows from the system
d r d t = H ( r , p r ) p r , d p r d t = H ( r , p r ) r .
We obtain
d r d t = 1 M p r , d p r d t = 4 α q 2 r 3 + L 2 M r 3 .
Then we obtain
d 2 r d t 2 = 1 M d p r d t , d 2 r d t 2 + 4 α q 2 M L 2 M 2 1 r 3 = 0 .
We put
p ( t ) = 4 α q 2 ( t ) M L 2 M 2
and consider the following nonlinear differential equation with the singularity
d 2 r ( t ) d t 2 + p ( t ) r 3 ( t ) = 0 , t t 0 ,
where t 0 R , p C ( [ t 0 , ) , R ) , i.e., the function p, is continuous on the interval [ t 0 , ) .
We require some lemmas for the main result.
Lemma 1. 
Suppose that function p C 1 ( [ t 0 , ) , R ) and r is an eventually positive solution of (1). Then,
r ( t τ ) r ( t ) = p ( t ) t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( t ) p ( t τ ) ] t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s t τ t p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s , t t 0 + τ , τ > 0 .
Proof. 
From Equation (1), we obtain
r ( t τ ) r ( t ) = t τ t p ( s ) r 3 ( s ) d s , t t 0 + τ .
Integrating that, we obtain
t τ t p ( s ) r 3 ( s ) d s = p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s p ( t τ ) t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s t τ t p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s = p ( t ) t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( t ) p ( t τ ) ] t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s t τ t p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s ,
r ( t τ ) r ( t ) = p ( t ) t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( t ) p ( t τ ) ] t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s t τ t p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s , t t 0 + τ .
We consider the function
G ( t ) = t τ t p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s , t t 0 + τ .
Lemma 2. 
Suppose that r is an eventually bounded positive solution of (1). Assume that:
( A 1 ) the function p C 1 ( [ t 0 , ) , R ) ,
( A 2 ) there exists T n R such that p ( t ) > 0 for t ( T n τ , T n ) and p ( t ) < 0 for t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ] , n N ,
( A 3 ) p ( T n + 0.5 τ ) p ( T n 0.5 τ ) = 0 , n N ,
( A 4 ) inf T n T n + 0.5 τ ( t T n ) p ( t ) d t , n N > 0 .
Then,
inf G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N > 0 .
Proof. 
We obtain
G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) = T n 0.5 τ T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = T n 0.5 τ T n p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t T n 0.5 τ T n p ( t ) d t t 0 T n r 3 ( s ) d s T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) d t t 0 T n r 3 ( s ) d s T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) T n t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = T n 0.5 τ T n p ( t ) d t T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) d t × t 0 T n r 3 ( s ) d s T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) T n t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = [ p ( T n 0.5 τ ) p ( T n + 0.5 τ ) ] t 0 T n r 3 ( s ) d s T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) T n t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) T n t r 3 ( s ) d s d t .
Since r ( t ) is bounded, then there exists a constant K > 0 such that 0 < r 3 ( t ) K , t t 0 + τ . Then,
G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) T n t r 3 ( s ) d s d t . 1 K T n T n + 0.5 τ ( t T n ) p ( t ) d t , n N .
With regard to ( A 4 ) , we have inf { G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N } > 0 . □
Theorem 1. 
Suppose that ( A 1 ) ( A 4 ) hold, p ( t ) is periodic with period 2 τ and
p ( t τ ) p ( t ) > 0 , t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) , T n = 2 n τ , n N .
Then, (1) has no solution such that
0 < K 1 r 3 ( t ) K 2 , t t 0 ,
where K 1 , K 2 are constants.
Proof. 
Assume that Equation (1) has a solution such that 0 < K 1 r 3 ( t ) K 2 , t t 0 . For derivatives of the function G ( t ) , we obtain
G ( t ) = p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s + p ( t τ ) t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s = p ( t ) t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s p ( t ) t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s + p ( t τ ) t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s = p ( t ) t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( t τ ) p ( t ) ] t 0 t τ r 3 ( s ) d s , t t 0 + τ .
The condition (4) implies that G ( t ) > 0 for t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) . Thus, the function G ( t ) is increasing on ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N . Since G ( T n ) < 0 , n N , by virtue of Lemma 2, there exist t n ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) such that G ( t n ) = 0 , n N . Set
H ( t ) = p ( t ) p ( t τ ) , t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ] , n N .
According to (4) and ( A 3 ) , we find that
H ( t ) = p ( t ) p ( t τ ) < 0 , t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ )
and H ( T n + 0.5 τ ) = 0 , n N . Then,
H ( t ) = p ( t ) p ( t τ ) > 0 f o r t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N .
Now assume that t n b n = T n + 0.5 τ ε , n N , where 0 < ε < 0.5 τ . With regard to (2), we obtain
r ( b n τ ) r ( b n ) = p ( b n ) b n τ b n r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( b n ) p ( b n τ ) ] t 0 b n τ r 3 ( s ) d s b n τ b n p ( s ) t 0 s r 3 ( u ) d u d s , b n t 0 + τ , n N .
Since p ( t ) is periodic, there exists a constant K 3 > 0 such that K 3 p ( t ) K 3 , t t 0 + τ . With regard to (3), we obtain
r ( t τ ) r ( t ) K 3 t τ t r 3 ( s ) d s K 3 τ K 1 , t t 0 + τ .
Then, we have
K 3 τ K 1 p ( b n ) b n τ b n r 3 ( s ) d s + [ p ( b n ) p ( b n τ ) ] t 0 b n τ r 3 ( s ) d s + G ( b n ) , b n t n , n N ,
2 K 3 τ K 1 [ p ( b n ) p ( b n τ ) ] t 0 b n τ r 3 ( s ) d s + G ( b n ) , b n t n , n N .
By virtue of (5), T n = 2 n τ , and periodicity of p ( t ) we obtain
p ( b n ) p ( b n τ ) = p ( T n + 0.5 τ ε ) p ( T n 0.5 τ ε ) = p ( 2 n τ + 0.5 τ ε ) p ( 2 n τ 0.5 τ ε ) = p ( 0.5 τ ε ) p ( 0.5 τ ε ) > 0 .
Then, for sufficiently large b n t n , we obtain
[ p ( b n ) p ( b n τ ) ] t 0 b n τ r 3 ( s ) d s [ p ( 0.5 τ ε ) p ( 0.5 τ ε ) ] × t 0 b n τ r 3 ( s ) d s [ p ( 0.5 τ ε ) p ( 0.5 τ ε ) ] b n τ t 0 K 2 > 2 K 3 τ K 1 ,
which contradicts (6).
Now, assume that there exists a sequence { t n } such that t n T n + 0.5 τ , a s n , G ( t n ) = 0 , t n ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N . Then,
G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) = T n 0.5 τ T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = T n 0.5 τ T n p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t T n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = t n τ T n p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t + t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t T n t n p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t t n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = t n τ t n p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t + t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t t n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = G ( t n ) + t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t t n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t = t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t t n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t , n N .
Since t n T n + 0.5 τ , a s n , then
t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t 0 , t n T n + 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t 0 .
Otherwise, for example assume that for t n T n + 0.5 τ , as n ,
t n τ T n 0.5 τ p ( t ) t 0 t r 3 ( s ) d s d t c > 0 .
Then, inf { G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) > 0 , n N } > 0 , and since G ( t ) > 0 for t ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) , G ( T n ) < 0 , there exists t n * ( T n , T n + 0.5 τ ) such that G ( t n * ) = 0 , n N , and G ( t ) > 0 for t ( t n * , T n + 0.5 τ ] . This contradicts that G ( t n ) = 0 for some t n ( t n * , T n + 0.5 τ ) .
Thus, G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) 0 , a s t n T n + 0.5 τ a n d n . This contradicts that inf { G ( T n + 0.5 τ ) , n N } > 0 . □

3. Applications

We now apply the above Theorem 1 on the atom–wire problem. For q ( t ) = Q cos ( ω t / 2 ) , [3,4], with regard to
q 2 ( t ) = Q 2 1 + cos ω t 2 ,
the atom–wire Hamiltonian has the form
H ( r , p r ) = p r 2 2 M + 1 r 2 L 2 2 M α Q 2 α Q 2 r 2 cos ω t .
The Hamiltonian system is described by
d r d t = 1 M p r , d p r d t = 2 α Q 2 ( 1 + cos ω t ) r 3 + L 2 M r 3 .
Then, we obtain
d 2 r d t 2 = 1 M d p r d t = 1 M 2 α Q 2 ( 1 + cos ω t ) r 3 + L 2 M r 3 , d 2 r d t 2 + 2 α Q 2 ( 1 + cos ω t ) M L 2 M 2 1 r 3 = 0 .
The equation governing the motion of the atom has the form
d 2 r d t 2 + A + B cos ω t r 3 = 0 , t t 0 ,
where
A = 2 α Q 2 M L 2 M 2 , B = 2 α Q 2 M .
We apply the Theorem 1 on Equation (8).
Corollary 1. 
Suppose that τ = π / ω > 0 , B > 0 . Then, Equation (8) has no solution such that
0 < K 1 r 3 ( t ) K 2 , t t 0 ,
where K 1 , K 2 are constants.
Proof. 
The function p ( t ) = A + B cos ω t . The condition ( A 1 ) is satisfied. For the condition ( A 2 ) , we take T n = 2 n τ = 2 π n / ω . Then,
p ( t ) = ω B sin ω t > 0 f o r t ( 2 n 1 ) π ω , 2 π n ω , p ( t ) < 0 f o r t 2 π n ω , ( 4 n + 1 ) π 2 ω , n N .
For ( A 3 ) , we have:
A + B cos ω ( T n + 0.5 τ ) A B cos ω ( T n 0.5 τ ) = B cos ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π B cos ( 2 n 0.5 ) π = 0 , n N .
Consider the condition ( A 4 ) . We obtain
2 π n / ω ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π / ω t 2 π n ω ω B sin ω t d t = 2 π n B 2 π n / ω ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π / ω sin ω t d t + ω B 2 π n / ω ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π / ω t sin ω t d t = 2 π n B 1 ω cos ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π 1 ω cos 2 π n + ω B [ 1 ω 2 sin ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π π ω 2 ( 2 n + 0.5 ) cos ( 2 n + 0.5 ) π 1 ω 2 sin 2 π n + 2 π n ω 2 cos 2 π n ] = 2 π n B 1 ω + ω B 1 ω 2 + 2 π n ω 2 = B ω > 0 .
The function p ( t ) = A + B cos ω t is periodic with period 2 τ = 2 π / ω . We have
p ( t τ ) p ( t ) = ω B sin ω t π ω + ω B sin ω t = ω B sin ( ω t π ) + ω B sin ω t = 2 ω B sin ω t > 0 f o r t 2 π n ω , ( 4 n + 1 ) π 2 ω , n N .
All conditions of Theorem 1 are satisfied. Equation (8) has no solution such that 0 < K 1 r 3 ( t ) K 2 , t t 0 . □

4. Numerical Simulation

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the trajectories of atoms that bounce off the electromagnetic field of the charged wire. A plot of an atom trajectory that is escaping to infinity is depicted in Figure 1. The motion of the atom near the charged wire is governed by the system (7)
d r d t = 1 M p r , d p r d t = L 2 M 2 α Q 2 2 α Q 2 cos ω t 1 r 3 ( t ) ,
in the form
d r d t = 0.2 p r , d p r d t = ( 0.1 0.5 cos 3 t ) 1 r 3 ( t ) , r ( 0 ) = 2 , p r ( 0 ) = 0 , t ( 0 , 8 ) ,
where parameters A < 0 , B > 0 .
In the Figure 2, the motion of the atom is governed by the system (7) in the form
d r d t = 0.2 p r , d p r d t = ( 0.12 1.2 cos 1.2 t ) 1 r 3 ( t ) , r ( 0 ) = 1.6 , p r ( 0 ) = 0.2 , t ( 0 , 45 ) ,
where parameters A > 0 , B > 0 . Figure 2 shows that, in the vicinity of a charged wire, the atom bounces to infinity.
Figure 3 shows the solution of Equation (8), which shows the motion of the atom. Equation (8) has the form
d 2 r d t 2 + ( 0.024 + 0.24 cos 1.2 t ) 1 r 3 ( t ) = 0 , r ( 0 ) = 1.6 , r ( 0 ) = 0.04 , t ( 0 , 43 ) .

5. Conclusions

Observe that when τ = π / ω > 0 , B > 0 , then Equation (8) cannot have a solution r ( t ) such that
0 < K 1 r 3 ( t ) K 2 , t t 0 ,
where K 1 , K 2 are constants. That is, the atom either hits the wire and is probably absorbed into the surface of the wire or escapes to infinity in the radial direction. Every process has its own history. We are interested in the influence of history on the motion of atoms in the vicinity of a charged wire.

Author Contributions

Methodology, R.O.; software, P.O.; validation, B.D.; formal analysis, R.C.; investigation, R.C.; writing—original draft, R.O.; writing—review and editing, B.D.; visualization, P.O.; supervision, B.D.; project administration, B.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic KEGA, grant number 001ŽU–4/2020.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic KEGA, grant number 001ŽU–4/2020.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

References

  1. Paul, W. Electromagnetic traps for charged and neutral particles. Rev. Modern Phys. 1990, 62, 531–540. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  2. Brawn, L.S. Quantum motion in a Paul trap. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1991, 66, 527–529. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  3. Hau, L.V.; Burns, M.M.; Golovchenko, J.A. Bound states of guided matter waves: An atom and a charged wire. Phys. Rev. A 1992, 45, 6468–6478. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  4. King, C.; Leśniewski, A. Periodic Motion of Atoms Near a Charged Wire. Lett. Math. Phys. 1997, 39, 367–378. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Lei, J.; Zhang, M. Twist Property of Periodic Motion of an Atom Near a Charged Wire. Lett. Math. Phys. 2002, 60, 9–17. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Figure 1. The trajectory of the atom.
Figure 1. The trajectory of the atom.
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Figure 2. The atom bounces to infinity.
Figure 2. The atom bounces to infinity.
Mathematics 11 00634 g002
Figure 3. Motion of the atom.
Figure 3. Motion of the atom.
Mathematics 11 00634 g003
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MDPI and ACS Style

Dorociaková, B.; Olach, R.; Chupáč, R.; Oršanský, P. Some Properties of Motion of Atoms near a Charged Wire. Mathematics 2023, 11, 634. https://doi.org/10.3390/math11030634

AMA Style

Dorociaková B, Olach R, Chupáč R, Oršanský P. Some Properties of Motion of Atoms near a Charged Wire. Mathematics. 2023; 11(3):634. https://doi.org/10.3390/math11030634

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorociaková, Božena, Rudolf Olach, Radoslav Chupáč, and Pavol Oršanský. 2023. "Some Properties of Motion of Atoms near a Charged Wire" Mathematics 11, no. 3: 634. https://doi.org/10.3390/math11030634

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