Customer Reviews

Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in One and Two Dimensions (International Series of Monographs on Ch)

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Not for the faint of heart, but this thing is plain awesome. It utilizes and clearly explains a useful way to look at the density matrix using Liouville space formalism and so-called 'superoperators'. If you like NMR and quantum mechanics, this is the book for you. I like Ernst and Co's style better than other NMR books, say a Slichter (though Ernst is a little less introductory than Slichter) or Levitt (much much less introductory than Levitt).

I can't express how much I enjoyed the operator formalism explanations, and if you've ever felt confused or intimidated by the notation or nomenclature surrounding Liouville space, try out this book because if you already know some quantum mechanics there's really nothing additionally complex about it. It really is a sneakily powerful tool to have in your kit if you are an NMRist, atomic physicist, or quantum mechanic in general, and is actually very natural and comfortable to use once you know what it can do and how it works.

The long and incredibly productive career of Richard Ernst could be said to have written most of this book. It is difficult to overstate his constribution to the field of NMR spectroscopy. In this seminal work, Dr. Ernst along with his co-authors and collaborators Bodenhausen and Wokaun draw on a vast base of knowledge to describe NMR spectroscopy in a clear understandable fashion for the newest student. Yet, this volume is packed with detail to satisfy even the most strigent graduate exam. The first chapter is an introduction to operator formalism which provides the theoretical framework for the discussion NMR experiments in 1- and 2- dimensions. The subsequent chapter on 1-D FT spectroscopy contains a depth of information lacking in many other treatments. This is followed by a clear discussion of multi-quantum transitions which are explored in full in the chapters on 2-D spectroscopy. The fourth chapter on the formation of 2-D spectra is the most complete I've seen to date. It should be since Ernst and his lab did much to shape the nature of 2-D spectroscopy. This is followed by three chapters elaborating on different aspects and areas of application of 2-D NMR spectroscopy. Finally chapter 8 is dedicated to NMR imaging which was changed in no small part by Dr. Ernst's contributions. This book should be on the shelf of any professional or student whose business is to know NMR spectrscopy. Physicists, spin-engineers, and physical chemists need this book if they are to study the fundamentals of NMR spectroscopy.