The Two-state Problem in Diffraction, NMR and Laser Atomic Spectroscopy

Abstract

It is pointed out that the basic mathematical structure underlying the physical techniques of (i) two-beam X-ray (or high-energy electron) diffraction from crystals, (ii) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for a spin-i1/2 system and (iii) laser-induced optical transients from atoms is essentially the same. The simplicity of the formalism is such as to readily enable one to tabulate correspondences between the various physical parameters involved in the different techniques and to identify corresponding experimental configurations in many cases.