Non-Markovian spin dynamics driven by quantum coherence

Journal article

The F-μ-F state provides a unique signature in muon spin rotation data and is observed in many fluorides. It gives rise to a characteristic oscillatory muon polarization that results from entanglement between the spins of the muon and nearby fluorine nuclei. If the muon hops from site to site, then the relaxation of this oscillatory signal can increase. The usual method to treat muon hopping in fluorides assumes the strong-collision approximation, which is then used to dynamicize the standard F-μ-F relaxation function. This approach presupposes Markovian dynamics and so neglects the quantum entanglement between a muon and a neighbouring spin to which it may still be strongly coupled, even after a hopping event. Entanglement that persists between a hopping event becomes even more important to include in the case when a muon subsequently hops back to its initial position. This article demonstrates the effect of including these coherent effects which results in dynamics that depart from those that are calculated using the strong-collision approximation.

Authors: Blundell, SJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
• Volume: 3222
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 012010
• Article number: 012010
• Publication date: 2026-04-01
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/3222/1/012010
• EISSN: 1742-6596
• ISSN: 1742-6588
• Language: English