A fully manipulable damped driven harmonic oscillator using optical levitation

We implement an experimental system based on optical levitation of a silicone oil droplet to demonstrate a damped driven harmonic oscillator. The apparatus allows us to control all the parameters present in the differential equation that theoretically describes such motion. The damping coefficient and driving force can be manipulated in situ by changing the pressure in the apparatus and by applying a variable electric field. We present two different experimental procedures. First, a transition from the overdamped to underdamped regimes is demonstrated by gradually lowering the air pressure. The characteristic resonance associated with an underdamped driven harmonic oscillator is observed by…