Physics Commons^™

Vibrational Modes Of Thin Oblate Clouds Of Charge, Thomas G. Jenkins, Ross L. Spencer

Faculty Publications

A numerical method is presented for finding the eigenfunctions (normal modes) and mode frequencies of azimuthally symmetric non-neutral plasmas confined in a Penning trap whose axial thickness is much smaller than their radial size. The plasma may be approximated as a charged disk in this limit; the normal modes and frequencies can be found if the surface charge density profile sigma(r) of the disk and the trap bounce frequency profile wz(r) are known. The dependence of the eigenfunctions and equilibrium plasma shapes on nonideal components of the confining Penning trap fields is discussed. The results of the calculation are compared …