The choice of an axis of quantization automatically selects those species from a bulk which could become stationary in a field-free environment with related spatial orientations of their coupling angular momenta. But if this axis fails to coincide with the direction of a uniform external magnetic field, a field-imposed transverse torque forces these atoms' total angular momenta into steady nutation that cannot be abolished by coupling-related internal torques. Making any stationary state impossible for these atoms, it also causes the contributions to the energy expectation value to oscillate. This is the result of a rigorous solution to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation describing the coupling dynamics of two spins 1/2 in an external field. Demanding to solve a four-dimensional system of coupled linear differential equations of first order, the bulkiness of even this simplest case already brings the calculations to the verge of becoming infeasible analytically.
We develop a quantum model for the rotational dynamics of a freely floating levitated ferromagnetic gyroscope (LFG), emphasizing the interplay between intrinsic spin
S, mechanical angular momentum
L, and magnetic torque. The conserved total angular momentum projection along the
z-directed magnetic field
B,
Jz=Sz+Lz, is quantized, leading in the small-libration-amplitude limit to discrete precessional states
∣m⟩ (eigenstates of
Jz with eigenvalues
Jz=mℏ) and librational harmonic oscillator states
∣n⟩ (
n=0,1,2,…). The discreteness of the energies and dynamical variables is governed by the quantum precession scale
ΩQ=ℏ/I, where
I is the moment of inertia of the LFG. We find that the phenomenon of LFG precession persists into high-field regimes where the magnitude of the rotational angular momentum associated with precession exceeds the total intrinsic spin. We analyze the complementary quantum limits of localized semiclassical LFG orientation wave packets and exact
Jz-eigenstates
∣m⟩, clarifying the relation between classical precession signals and the underlying quantized spin-rotor dynamics. We further show that radio-frequency fields can drive
Δm=±1 and
Δn=±1 transitions, enabling ladder spectroscopy, tilt-angle control, and sideband-like coupling between precession and libration. The coupled dynamics also exhibit branch-point magnetic resonances where precession and librational motion become strongly coupled. These results establish a framework for using LFGs not only as ultrasensitive torque and magnetic-field sensors, but also as controllable mesoscopic quantum systems. The techniques developed here may be applied to searches for exotic, beyond-the-standard model spin-dependent interactions, ultralight dark matter, and spin-gravity couplings.
In this work we demonstrate a simple way to implement the quantum inverse scattering method to find eigenstates of spin-1/2 XXX Gaudin magnets in an arbitrarily oriented magnetic field. The procedure differs vastly from the most natural approach which would be to simply orient the spin quantisation axis in the same direction as the magnetic field through an appropriate rotation. Instead, we define a modified realisation of the rational Gaudin algebra and use the quantum inverse scattering method which allows us, within a slightly modified implementation, to build an algebraic Bethe ansatz using the same unrotated reference state (pseudovacuum) for any external field. This common framework allows us to easily write determinant expressions for certain scalar products which would be highly non-trivial in the rotated system approach.