TRANSIENT LIFETIME SPECTRUM OF TWO CHARGED PARTICLES IN A PAUL TRAP

The transient properties of laser-cooled two charged particles in a Paul trap are studied numerically. We find the existence of characteristic lifetime of an attractor, which is thought to be an important feature of the transient dynamics of the weakly dissipative system. The theoretical analysis shows that it is caused by pseudo-periodic orbit which is the residual sign of periodic orbit of the focus-saddle bifurcation. Study of dissipative coupled standard maps shows that this is a general conclusion for weakly dissipative system.