Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz). NMR results from specific magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials. NMR is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The original application of NMR to condensed matter physics is nowadays mostly devoted to strongly correlated electron systems. It reveals large many-body couplings by fast broadband detection and it should not to be confused with solid state NMR, which aims at removing the effect of the same couplings by Magic Angle Spinning techniques.

Resonance is the phenomenon, pertaining to oscillatory dynamical systems, wherein amplitude rises are caused by an external force with time-varying amplitude with the same frequency of variation as the natural frequency of the system. The amplitude rises that occur are a result of the fact that applied external forces at the natural frequency entail a net increase in mechanical energy of the system.