Driven Dissipation and Stabilization of a Levitated Rotor with Multi-Day Coherence

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Authors: Mehrdad M. Sourki, Wisdom Boinde, G Anne, Mahdi Hosseini
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We report the experimental observation of nonlinear mode-crossing dissipation and injection-locking-like stabilization in a milligram-scale diamagnetically levitated quartz cube. By optically driving the cube to rotation rate near 360 RPM, we observe that its angular velocity does not decay smoothly but instead decreases in discrete steps whenever the instantaneous rotation frequency crosses one of several higher-order mechanical modes. We observe rotational dissipation times on the order of a few days. When a weak counteracting radiation-pressure torque is applied, the system unexpectedly stabilizes at a constant rotation rate that persists for about two days, constituting the mechanical analogue of injection locking. Our results reveal a new regime of multimode nonlinear dynamics in low-dissipation levitated solids and establish diamagnetic levitation as a platform for exploring non-Hamiltonian many-mode interactions and mechanically engineered nonlinear attractors and sensors.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Mechanical and Optical Resonators Geophysics and Sensor Technology Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
4 January 2026
Document type
Preprint