Defying Boltzmann Equilibrium: Recent Advances in Nuclear Spin Hyperpolarization

In the past 10 years the field of NMR and MRI has been revolutionized by the development of novel techniques that enable rapid and efficient transfer of spin order from electrons to nuclei and from nuclei to other nuclei. With respect to thermal equilibrium, these techniques can enhance the nuclear spin polarization by several orders of magnitude, enabling detection of nuclear spins and molecules that normally are invisible to induction-based NMR detection methods. In this talk I will give a broad overview of the field of nuclear spin polarization, as it has evolved in recent years, with a special emphasis on nuclear spin polarization of noble gases, recent technical developments, and novel biological applications it enabled.