Nuclear magnetic resonance of trapped molecules

Ray LaPierre

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) uses a large ensemble of molecules in a test tube (a liquid). The spin states of nuclei within the atoms of the molecules act as the qubits. Each molecule is a quantum computer.

David S. Simon

昭二 市村

Ray LaPierre

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) uses a large ensemble of molecules in a test tube (a liquid). The spin states of nuclei within the atoms of the molecules act as the qubits. Each molecule is a quantum computer.

Zhichen Liu, Richard A. Klemm

Modern experimental techniques can generate magnetic fields of the form H(t) = H0 z-hat + H1 [x-hat cos(ωt) + y-hat sin(ωt)], at frequencies within an order of magnitude of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) frequencies, ωn0 and ωe0, respectively, when acting on atoms or molecules. We derive simple closed-form expressions for the exact nuclear- and electronic-spin wave functions that enable controlled transitions between entangled states, allowing an atom or molecule to function as a quantum computer. These solutions also enable precise NMR or EPR measurements of nuclear moments in atoms and molecules. We present examples relevant to measurements of the nuclear moments of 14N, 7Li, and 133Cs. Because existing hyperfine measurements of the lowest three nuclear moments of 133Cs are mutually inconsistent, the proposed NMR/EPR experiments provide a route to measuring all seven of its nuclear moments with high precision.

Michael Mehring, Gerhard Wäckerle