The path traced out by the terminus of the magnetization vector for a spin-1 nucleus subjected to a nonvanishing electric-field gradient is calculated quantum mechanically. Certain special combinations of angular momentum operators are used to simplify the work.
This study investigates spin squeezed states in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quadrupolar systems with spins I=3/2 and I=7/2 at room temperature, taking into account the effects of relaxation on the dynamics. The origin of spin squeezing is attributed to the interaction between the nuclear quadrupole moment and the electric field gradients in the molecular environment. The formal description of the nonlinear operators responsible for spin squeezing is achieved using the spin angular momentum representation via the one-axis twisting mechanism. This approach provides a framework for quantum control and metrology over the spin squeezing process while accounting for the influence of relaxation phenomena. Non-Cartesian angular momentum operators are proposed, with their variances products catching the quantum effects during the dynamics. An upper bound for the squeezing parameter and the Heisenberg uncertainty at thermal equilibrium are also predicted for any spin quantum number.
Angular momentum plays a similarly important role in atomic systems, such as an electron subject to the central force provided by the Coulomb field of a nucleus. This chapter introduces the properties of angular momentum, both orbital and spin, in the quantum-mechanical scheme of things. The angular momentum of atomic systems is inseparable from the magnetic properties of atoms. The various permitted values of the quantized angular momentum play a central role in determining the number and variety of possible quantum states in atomic systems. The Stern-Gerlach experiment was deliberately designed to test whether or not the angular momentum of individual neutral atoms is quantized in a magnetic field. As in the development of the Schrodinger equation, classical physics gives some hints of the correct forms of these angular momentum operators. The chapter discusses rough estimate using the Neils Bohr theory and attributing the magnetic moment to the orbital motion of the electron.
We have produced and characterized spin-squeezed states at a temperature of 26 °C in a nuclear magnetic resonance quadrupolar system. The experiment was carried out on 133Cs nuclei of spin I=7/2 in a sample of lyotropic liquid crystal. The source of spin squeezing was identified as the interaction between the quadrupole moment of the nuclei and the electric field gradients present within the molecules. We use the spin angular momentum representation to describe formally the nonlinear operators that produce the spin squeezing on a Hilbert space of dimension 2I+1=8. The quantitative and qualitative characterization of this spin-squeezing phenomenon is expressed by a squeezing parameter and squeezing angle developed for the two-mode Bose-Einstein condensate system, as well as by the Wigner quasiprobability distribution function. The generality of the present experimental scheme points to potential applications in solid-state physics.