Outline: Nuclear angular momentum

Lecturer: Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim

e-mail: h.j.wollersheim@gsi.de
web-page: https://web-docs.gsi.de/~wolle/ and click on

1. nuclear spin quantum number

2. parity
3. magnetic moment
4. magnetic resonance imaging
Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022
 Nuclear angular momentum
electron orbitals electrons in an atom

quantum numbers:
n=3 n (principal) 1,2,3,…
ℓ (orbital angular momentum) 0 → n-1
m (magnetic) -ℓ ≤ m ≤ +ℓ
n=2
s (spin) ↑↓ or +½ħ -½ħ
n=1
classical analogy

spin s

orbital angular momentum ℓ

sun ≡ nucleus
earth ≡ electron
protons and neutrons have ℓ and s electron is structure less and hence can not rotate
spin s is a quantum mechanical concept
total angular momentum: 𝚥𝚥⃗ = ℓ + 𝑠𝑠⃗
total nuclear spin: 𝐼𝐼 = ∑ 𝑗𝑗

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Nuclear spin quantum number
protons and neutrons have orbital angular momentum ℓ and spin s

total angular momentum: 𝚥𝚥⃗ = ℓ + 𝑠𝑠⃗

total nuclear spin: 𝐼𝐼 = ∑ 𝑗𝑗
𝐼𝐼 = 𝑗𝑗1 + 𝑗𝑗2 + ⋯ 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 , 𝑗𝑗1 + 𝑗𝑗2 + ⋯ 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 − 1, ⋯ , 𝑗𝑗1 − 𝑗𝑗2 − ⋯ − 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 quantum mechanics

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Nuclear spin quantum number
protons and neutrons have orbital angular momentum ℓ and spin s

total angular momentum: 𝚥𝚥⃗ = ℓ + 𝑠𝑠⃗

total nuclear spin: 𝐼𝐼 = ∑ 𝑗𝑗
𝐼𝐼 = 𝑗𝑗1 + 𝑗𝑗2 + ⋯ 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 , 𝑗𝑗1 + 𝑗𝑗2 + ⋯ 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 − 1, ⋯ , 𝑗𝑗1 − 𝑗𝑗2 − ⋯ − 𝑗𝑗𝑛𝑛 quantum mechanics

 1H = 1 proton, so I = ½
 2H = 1 proton and 1 neutron, so I = 1 or 0

 For heavier nuclei, it is not immediately evident what the spin should be as there
are a multitude of possible values.

mass number number of protons number of neutrons spin (I) example

even even even 0 16O

odd odd integer (1,2,…) 2H

odd even odd half-integer (1⁄2 , 3⁄2 , ⋯) 13C

odd even half-integer (1⁄2 , 3⁄2 , ⋯) 15N

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Nuclear spin quantum number
The magnitude is given by
𝐿𝐿 = ℏ 𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝐼 + 1
The projection on the z-axis (arbitrarily chosen), takes on discretized values according to m, where
𝑚𝑚 = −𝐼𝐼, −𝐼𝐼 + 1, −𝐼𝐼 + 2, ⋯ , +𝐼𝐼

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Parity

wave – particle duality: photoelectric effect

wave function

Ψ(x)

Ψ(x) = Ψ(-x) → parity = even (+)

x
Ψ(x)
ℓ = 0, 2, 4, … even

x Ψ(x) = -Ψ(-x) → parity = odd (-)

ℓ = 1, 3, 5, … odd

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Magnetic moment

𝜇𝜇⃗ = 𝐼𝐼 � 𝐴𝐴

2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋
ℓ = 𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣 � 𝑟𝑟 𝑣𝑣 = → 𝑡𝑡 =
𝑡𝑡 𝑣𝑣
𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑒 � 𝑣𝑣
𝐼𝐼 = =
𝑡𝑡 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋
I 𝑒𝑒 � 𝑣𝑣 𝑒𝑒 � 𝑣𝑣 � 𝑟𝑟
𝜇𝜇 = � 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2 =
ℓ 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 2
𝑒𝑒 � 𝑣𝑣 � 𝑟𝑟 𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣 � 𝑟𝑟 𝑒𝑒 � ℓ 𝑒𝑒 � ℏ
𝜇𝜇 = � = 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 =
2 𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣 � 𝑟𝑟 2𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒 2𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒
ℓ
𝜇𝜇ℓ = 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵 � electron orbital magnetic moment
ℏ
ℓ 𝑒𝑒 � ℏ
𝜇𝜇ℓ = 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 � proton orbital magnetic moment 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 =
ℏ 2𝑚𝑚𝑝𝑝
Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022
 Magnetic moment
ℓ
𝜇𝜇ℓ = 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵 � electron orbital magnetic moment
ℏ
𝑠𝑠
𝜇𝜇𝑠𝑠 = −2.0023 � 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵 � electron spin magnetic moment (Dirac equation)
ℏ

𝑠𝑠
𝜇𝜇𝑠𝑠 = +5.585691 � 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 � proton spin magnetic moment
ℏ

𝑠𝑠
𝜇𝜇𝑠𝑠 = −3.826084 � 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 � neutron spin magnetic moment
ℏ Why has a neutron a magnetic moment when it is uncharged?

u-quark: + 2⁄3 𝑒𝑒 neutrons and protons are not elementary particles

d-quark: − 1⁄3 𝑒𝑒 internal structure: they have charges.

proton neutron
+1e 0e

1
𝜇𝜇𝑠𝑠 21𝐻𝐻 = 5.59 − 3.83 � 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 � = 0.87980𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 = 0.8574 � 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 (experiment)
2

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Quark bag model

Charge Mass mq Spin mag. Moment

u-quark + 2/3 ~ 1/3 Mp 1/2 2 𝑒𝑒 � ℏ
2� � � 𝑠𝑠 = 4 � 𝜇𝜇𝐾𝐾 � 𝑠𝑠
3 2 � 𝑚𝑚𝑞𝑞 � 𝑐𝑐

d-quark - 1/3 ~ 1/3 Mp 1/2 1 𝑒𝑒 � ℏ

2� − � � 𝑠𝑠 = −2 � 𝜇𝜇𝐾𝐾 � 𝑠𝑠
3 2 � 𝑚𝑚𝑞𝑞 � 𝑐𝑐

general coupling rule: g ( j1 × j2 ; J ) =

1
(g1 + g 2 ) + j1 ( j1 + 1) − j2 ( j2 + 1) ⋅ (g1 − g 2 )
2 2 ⋅ J ⋅ ( J + 1)

Proton (uud) : g (1 / 2 ×1 / 2 ;1) =

1
(4 + 4) + 1 / 2 ⋅ 3 / 2 − 1 / 2 ⋅ 3 / 2 ⋅ (4 − 4) = 4
2 2 ⋅1 ⋅ 2
2 −3/ 4
g (1×1 / 2 ;1 / 2 ) = (4 − 2 ) + ⋅ (4 + 2 ) = +6
1
2 3/ 2

Neutron (ddu) : g (1 / 2 ×1 / 2 ;1) =

1
(− 2 − 2) + 1 / 2 ⋅ 3 / 2 − 1 / 2 ⋅ 3 / 2 ⋅ (− 2 + 2) = −2
2 2 ⋅1 ⋅ 2
2 −3/ 4
g (1×1 / 2 ;1 / 2 ) = (− 2 + 4 ) + ⋅ (− 2 − 4 ) = −4
1
2 3/ 2

gDirac = 2 prediction of the Dirac-theory for the gyromagnetic factor for spin ½-particles

gsproton = +5.58 ⇒ big deviation from g = 2 ⇔ no fundamental particle

gsneutron = -3.82

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022

 Application: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
𝑠𝑠
𝜇𝜇𝑠𝑠 = +5.585691 � 𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁 � proton spin magnetic moment
ℏ
𝜇𝜇𝑁𝑁
𝜇𝜇𝐼𝐼 = 𝛾𝛾 � 𝐼𝐼 gyromagnetic ratio 𝛾𝛾 = 𝑔𝑔 �
ℏ
= 𝑔𝑔 � 7.62 � 106 𝑇𝑇 −1 𝑠𝑠 −1
proton 𝑔𝑔-factor: +5.585691, spin I: ½ ħ

proton in magnetic field energy difference between states

∆𝐸𝐸 = ℎ � 𝜈𝜈

Δ𝐸𝐸 = 2 � 𝜇𝜇𝐼𝐼 � 𝐵𝐵0

𝜈𝜈 = 𝛾𝛾⁄2𝜋𝜋 � 𝐵𝐵0 Larmor frequency

𝛾𝛾 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀⁄
⁄2𝜋𝜋 = 42.57 𝑇𝑇 for proton

Larmor frequency
low energy

high energy

low energy

high energy
relaxation (tissue dependent)

Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim – 2022