When 10 ions were placed in a high-energy configuration in region B, a
single ion's trajectory was composed of a discrete number of Fourier
components (Fig. 
). The frequency peaks were not as
well-defined as those of the single ion in region B (Figs. ,): the ``dips'' between adjacent peaks are neither as low
nor as
smooth
for the 10-ion simulation as for the single-ion simulation.
Nevertheless, the frequency peaks
of the 10-ion and 1-ion transforms are in
excellent agreement, varying by 
to 
absolute discrepancy
for axial oscillation and 
to 
discrepancy for radial
oscillations (Tab. ). Thus, the ion
motions for the high-energy 10-ion
simulation are virtually uncoupled, are well-approximated by motion of a
single ion in stability region B, and demonstrate the features of the Mathieu
regime (previously discussed for region A in Sec. ) in stability region B.
However, the 10-ion simulation demonstrated that, even in the Mathieu
regime, interactions are occasionally significant when Coulomb repulsion arising from a near-collision
``kicks'' a particle from one trajectory to another. (Note the segmented
trajectory of a single ion, Fig. ).
In the Mathieu regime, the classical result of equipartition of energy between
kinetic and potential components was demonstrated for a 10-ion simulation in stability region B (Fig. ).
Figure: Equipartition of energy for 10 Paul-trapped magnesium ions in stability region B: the running averages (evaluated over 
s) of total, potential, and kinetic energies are displayed. The total energy of about 
eV is partitioned
equally among potential and kinetic components, indicating a temperature of approximately 1660 K. source file: paul10B.trp.
Table: Frequency analysis of x-motion and axial motion of 1 and 10 Paul-trapped ions in stability region B. The agreement in frequencies illustrates that the 10 ions are in the Mathieu (non-interacting) regime. source files: paul10B.trp, paul1B.trp
Figure: Axial position and x-position vs. time for one of 10 ions Paul
trapped in region B of Mathieu stability. source file: paul10B.trp.
Figure: Fourier transforms (2048 data points) of x-position ( left)
and axial position ( right) of a Paul-trapped ion in stability region B. Peak x-frequencies (MHz): 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
. Peak axial frequencies (MHz): 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
. source file: paul10B.trp.
Figure: x-position vs. axial position for one of 10 Paul-trapped ions in region B of Mathieu stability. source file: paul10B.trp.