This book provides an introduction to the field of Penning traps and related experimental techniques. It serves both as a primer for those entering the field, and as a quick reference for those working in it. The book is motivated by the observation that often a vast number of different resources have to be explored to gain a good overview of Penning trap principles. This is especially true for students who experience additional difficulty due to the different styles of presentation and notation. This volume provides a broad introductory overview in unified notation.

The author received his PhD in physics from the University of Mainz in 2001, working with Lutz Schweikhard on molecular ions confined in a Penning trap. He then joined the group of Günter Werth and worked on precision measurements of the bound electron's magnetic moment in Penning traps. He extended this work as a research associate at Imperial College London in the group of Richard Thompson, and later joined Penning trap projects for precision spectroscopy at the GSI Helmholtz-Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.