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Linear Paul Trap: Ion Chain (2D Cross-Section)

Interactive 2D cross-section of a linear Paul trap: watch trapped-ion qubits form a Coulomb crystal along the trap axis under an RF quadrupole field, tune the Mathieu a/q stability parameters and laser-cooling damping, drag to pan and scroll to zoom, and read a corrected secular-frequency readout.

Quantum Physics2DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Trapped-ion quantum computers — the platform behind IonQ and Quantinuum's roadmap to error-corrected machines — hold their qubits in a linear Paul trap: an oscillating RF quadrupole field confines ions radially while static endcap electrodes confine them along the trap axis. This 2D cross-section integrates the real Mathieu equation of motion for each ion under the time-dependent RF drive plus full pairwise Coulomb repulsion, so the ions self-assemble into a linear crystal exactly as they do in a real trap. Tune the RF amplitude and DC endcap voltage to explore the Mathieu stability diagram, dial in laser-cooling damping to watch a hot ion cloud settle into a still crystal, change the chain length, and drag/scroll the view to inspect the crystal up close — all while live readouts track the stability region, secular frequency, crystal spacing and kinetic energy.

⚙ Under the hood

2D axial/radial cross-section of a linear Paul trap: integrate the real Mathieu equation of motion under an RF quadrupole drive plus Coulomb repulsion, drag to pan and scroll to zoom, and watch ions self-assemble into a crystal with a corrected secular-frequency readout.

trapped-ionquantum computingPaul trapMathieu equationCoulomb crystalqubit2D

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