Experimental classification of multi-spin coherence under the full rotation group

Isotropic filtering using polyhedral phase cycles: application to singlet state NMR

A technique is described for filtering out the components of an NMR signal that have passed through an isotropic spin order term. The method involves a coordinated cycle of three radiofrequency phase angles, where two of the phases correspond to the polar angles describing the vertices of a regular polyhedron, and the third angle is stepped around a circle. The most economical isotropic filtering scheme involves a 12-step phase cycle based on tetrahedral symmetry. The method is used to filter out NMR signals that have passed through singlet populations in a solution NMR experiment.

Quantum state tomography for quadrupolar nuclei using global rotations of the spin system

In this paper, we describe a quantum state tomography method based on global rotations of the spin system which, together with a coherence selection scheme, enables the complete density matrix reconstruction. The main advantage of this technique, in respect to previous proposals, is the use of much shorter rf pulses, which decreases significantly the time necessary for algorithm quantum state tomography. In this case, under adequate experimental conditions, the rf pulses correspond to simple spatial rotations of the spin states, and its analytical description is conveniently given in the irreducible tensor formalism. Simulated results show the feasibility of the method for a single spin 72 nucleus. As an experimental result, we exemplify the application of this method by tomographing the steps during the implementation of the Deutsch algorithm. The algorithm was implemented in a (23)Na quadrupole nucleus using the strongly modulated pulses technique. We also extended the tomography method for a 3-coupled homonuclear spin 12 system, where an additional evolution under the internal Hamiltonian is necessary for zero order coherences evaluation.

Beyond Euler angles: exploiting the angle-axis parametrization in a multipole expansion of the rotation operator

Euler angles (alpha,beta,gamma) are cumbersome from a computational point of view, and their link to experimental parameters is oblique. The angle-axis {Phi, n} parametrization, especially in the form of quaternions (or Euler-Rodrigues parameters), has served as the most promising alternative, and they have enjoyed considerable success in rf pulse design and optimization. We focus on the benefits of angle-axis parameters by considering a multipole operator expansion of the rotation operator D(Phi, n), and a Clebsch-Gordan expansion of the rotation matrices D(MM')(J)(Phi, n). Each of the coefficients in the Clebsch-Gordan expansion is proportional to the product of a spherical harmonic of the vector n specifying the axis of rotation, Y(lambdamu)(n), with a fixed function of the rotation angle Phi, a Gegenbauer polynomial C(2J-lambda)(lambda+1)(cosPhi/2). Several application examples demonstrate that this Clebsch-Gordan expansion gives easy and direct access to many of the parameters of experimental interest, including coherence order changes (isolated in the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients), and rotation angle (isolated in the Gegenbauer polynomials).

Spherical tensor analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance signals

In a nuclear magnetic-resonance (NMR) experiment, the spin density operator may be regarded as a superposition of irreducible spherical tensor operators. Each of these spin operators evolves during the NMR experiment and may give rise to an NMR signal at a later time. The NMR signal at the end of a pulse sequence may, therefore, be regarded as a superposition of spherical components, each derived from a different spherical tensor operator. We describe an experimental method, called spherical tensor analysis (STA), which allows the complete resolution of the NMR signal into its individual spherical components. The method is demonstrated on a powder of a (13)C-labeled amino acid, exposed to a pulse sequence generating a double-quantum effective Hamiltonian. The propagation of spin order through the space of spherical tensor operators is revealed by the STA procedure, both in static and rotating solids. Possible applications of STA to the NMR of liquids, liquid crystals, and solids are discussed.

Constants of motion in NMR spectroscopy

We present a general method for constructing a subset of the constants of motion in terms of products of spin operators. These operators are then used to give insight into the multi-spin orders comprising the quasi-equilibrium state formed under a Jeener-Broekaert sequence in small, dipolar-coupled, spin systems. We further show that constants of motion that represent single-quantum coherences are present due to the symmetry of the dipolar Hamiltonian under 180 degrees spin rotations, and that such coherences contribute a DC component to the FID which vanishes in the absence of the flip-flop terms and is only present for spin clusters with an odd number of spins.

Scaling of decoherence in wide NMR quantum registers

Among the most important parameters for the usefulness of quantum computers are the size of the quantum register and the decoherence time for the quantum information. The decoherence time is expected to get shorter with the number of correlated qubits, but experimental data are only available for small numbers of qubits. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance allows one to correlate large numbers of qubits (several hundred) and measure their decoherence rates. We use a modified magnetic dipole-dipole interaction to correlate the proton spins in a solid sample and observe the decay of the resulting highly correlated states. By systematically varying the number of correlated spins, we measure the increase of the decoherence rate with the size of the quantum register.

Does phase cycling work for nuclei experiencing strong quadrupolar couplings?

The question of whether the phase cycling can still be used to select coherence transfer pathways in spin systems experiencing a tilting of its eigenstates away from the Zeeman eigenstates due to strong couplings was investigated theoretically. Based on the analysis presented it is concluded that conventional phase cycling is still a valid approach for selecting a coherence transfer pathway signal, although changes in pathway efficiencies can occur as the mechanisms for excitation and detection of coherences are affected by the tilting of the eigenstates.