  We describe how a local non-equilibrium nuclear polarisation can be generated
and detected by electrical means in a semiconductor quantum point contact
device. We show that measurements of the nuclear spin relaxation rate will
provide clear signatures of the interaction mechanism underlying the "0.7"
conductance anomaly. Our analysis illustrates how nuclear magnetic resonance
methods, which are used extensively to study strongly-correlated electron
phases in bulk materials, can be made to play a similarly important role in
nanoscale devices.
