arXiv · 2511.21495
Quantum theory of electrically levitated nanoparticle-ion systems: Motional dynamics and sympathetic cooling
Abstract
We develop the theory describing the quantum coupled dynamics of the center-of-mass motion of a nanoparticle and an ensemble of ions co-trapped in a dual-frequency linear Paul trap. We first derive analytical expressions for the motional frequencies and classical trajectories of both nanoparticle and ions. We then derive a quantum master equation for the ion-nanoparticle system and quantify the sympathetic cooling of the nanoparticle motion enabled by its Coulomb coupling to a continuously Doppler-cooled ion. We predict that motional cooling down to sub-kelvin temperatures is achievable in state-of-the-art experiments even in the absence of motional feedback and in the presence of micromotion. We then extend our analysis to an ensemble of $N$ ions, predicting a linear increase of the cooling rate as a function of $N$ and motional cooling of the nanoparticle down to tenths of millikelvin in current experimental platforms. Our work establishes the theoretical toolbox needed to explore the ion-assisted preparation of non-Gaussian motional states of levitated nanoparticles.
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Saurabh Gupta, Bernard Faulend, Dmitry S. Bykov, Tracy E. Northup, Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero. 2025-11-26. Quantum theory of electrically levitated nanoparticle-ion systems: Motional dynamics and sympathetic cooling. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.21495
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