Home▸Plasma Physics▸Plasma Confinement: RF Trap Stability (2D)

Plasma Confinement: RF Trap Stability (2D)

2D RF ion-trap lab: charged particles confined by a real oscillating quadrupole-style field, integrated step by step so the Mathieu stability parameter q you set with the sliders actually decides whether particles stay trapped or escape.

Plasma Physics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion replaces the 3D plasma ball's decorative lightning-filament visuals with the real electrodynamics behind AC plasma confinement: charged particles are integrated directly under a genuine oscillating radial field rather than animated for looks, a Mathieu stability parameter q is computed live from the frequency and amplitude sliders, and particles are actually ejected through the chamber wall the instant the field drives them past the q ≈ 0.908 stability boundary — the same physics that governs real RF ion traps (Paul traps) and quadrupole mass filters.

⚙ Under the hood

2D RF confinement lab: N charged particles integrated with a(t) = −(qE₀/m)·cos(Ωt)·r plus pairwise Coulomb repulsion at a fixed 1/250s sub-step; a live-computed Mathieu stability parameter q = 2E₀/Ω² classifies the regime as stable or unstable, and any particle whose radius exceeds the chamber wall is permanently ejected and counted, mirroring real ion-trap loss.

rf ion trapmathieu stabilitypaul trapquadrupole confinementcoulomb repulsionpseudopotential

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install