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Abstract

Numerical simulations have proven to be an effective approach for studying ion trajectories
for different types of mass spectrometers. PentaSim, developed in this work, is a
modular tool for numerical simulation of a single ion in ideal and cylindrical Penning-trap
experiments.
The tool uses a polynomial expansion of the electric potentials and magnetic field to allow
the calculation of trajectories for different settings that are not constrained by cylindrical
symmetry. In particular, realistic maps of the electric potential, e.g. from Finite Element
Method calculations can be imported. Therefore, PentaSim is a promising framework for
the investigation of systematic effects induced by machining imperfections and higher
order terms of the electric potential and magnetic field with the goal of enhancing the
sensitivity of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry experiments such as Pentatrap. In
addition, the option to incorporate high-frequency excitation and conversion pulses of
any form in the simulation could be leveraged to probe new measurement techniques.
The accuracy of the simulation predictions were benchmarked against established theory.
Relative residuals below 10⁻⁸ and 10⁻¹³ were obtained using a simulation time
step of 10⁻¹² s for the fast modified cyclotron frequency and slow magnetron frequency,
respectively.