Gravity-induced resonances in a rotating trap

Abstract

It is shown that in an anisotropic harmonic trap that rotates with the properly chosen rotation rate, the force of gravity leads to a resonant behavior. Full analysis of the dynamics in an anisotropic, rotating trap in 3D is presented and several regions of stability are identified. On resonance, the oscillation amplitude of a single particle, or of the center of mass of a many-particle system (for example, BEC), grows linearly with time and all particles are expelled from the trap. The resonances can only occur when the rotation axis is tilted away from the vertical position. The positions of the resonances (there are always two of them) do not depend on the mass but only on the characteristic frequencies of the trap and on the direction of the angular velocity of rotation.