Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2014 in the subject Physics - Optics, grade: Excellent Cum Laude with Honors, language: English, abstract: The present thesis investigates the dynamics of optically levitated particles in high vacuum. A levitated nanoparticle in high vacuum constitutes a nanomechanical resonator featuring a small mass and a ultra-high quality factor - significantly higher than that of fabricated nanomechanical resonators, which are approaching fundamental limits of dissipation. The combination of small mass and high quality factor allows for sensing of feeble...