diff --git a/SeQuant/core/space.hpp b/SeQuant/core/space.hpp
index 0fd3d69cf..cc928c65e 100644
--- a/SeQuant/core/space.hpp
+++ b/SeQuant/core/space.hpp
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@
 
 namespace sequant {
 
+namespace bitset {
+using type = int32_t;
+constexpr type reserved = 0x80000000;
+constexpr type null = 0x00000000;
+}  // namespace bitset
+
+using bitset_t = bitset::type;
+
 class QuantumNumbersAttr;  // used to constrain TypeAttr ctor
 
 class Index;  // friend of TypeAttr
@@ -29,8 +37,6 @@ class Index;  // friend of TypeAttr
 /// (intersection, union, etc.) it is encoded as a fixed-width (32) bitset.
 class TypeAttr {
  public:
-  using bitset_t = int32_t;
-
   /// default ctor creates a null TypeAttr
   constexpr TypeAttr() noexcept = default;
 
@@ -43,7 +49,7 @@ class TypeAttr {
   /// @param bitset bitset representation of this Type
   /// @pre `(bitset & make_reserved().bitset) == null.bitset`
   explicit constexpr TypeAttr(bitset_t bitset) noexcept : bitset(bitset) {
-    assert((this->bitset & reserved.bitset) == null.bitset);
+    assert((this->bitset & bitset::reserved) == bitset::null);
   }
 
   /// construct TypeAddr from things that can be cast to bitset_t, but exclude
@@ -144,8 +150,6 @@ inline const TypeAttr TypeAttr::reserved = TypeAttr::make_reserved();
 /// denotes other quantum numbers (particle type, spin, etc.)
 class QuantumNumbersAttr {
  public:
-  using bitset_t = int32_t;
-
   /// default ctor creates a null QuantumNumbersAttr
   /// @post `static_cast<bool>(*this) == false`
   constexpr QuantumNumbersAttr() noexcept = default;
@@ -160,7 +164,7 @@ class QuantumNumbersAttr {
   /// @pre `(bitset & make_reserved().bitset()) == null.bitset()`
   explicit constexpr QuantumNumbersAttr(bitset_t bitset) noexcept
       : bitset(bitset) {
-    assert((this->bitset & reserved.bitset) == null.bitset);
+    assert((this->bitset & bitset::reserved) == bitset::null);
   }
 
   template <typename QN,
@@ -241,7 +245,7 @@ class QuantumNumbersAttr {
   }
 
  private:
-  bitset_t bitset = 0;
+  bitset_t bitset = bitset::null;
 
   friend class Index;
 
@@ -252,7 +256,7 @@ class QuantumNumbersAttr {
   /// makes reserved object
   static QuantumNumbersAttr make_reserved() {
     QuantumNumbersAttr result;
-    result.bitset = 0x80000000;
+    result.bitset = bitset::reserved;
     return result;
   }
 };  // struct QuantumNumbersAttr
diff --git a/SeQuant/domain/mbpt/spin.hpp b/SeQuant/domain/mbpt/spin.hpp
index 65c47a8cb..334ac0aee 100644
--- a/SeQuant/domain/mbpt/spin.hpp
+++ b/SeQuant/domain/mbpt/spin.hpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ namespace mbpt {
 
 /// quantum numbers tags related to spin
 /// \note spin quantum number takes 2 rightmost bits
-enum class Spin : QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t {
+enum class Spin : bitset_t {
   alpha = 0b000001,
   beta = 0b000010,
   any = 0b000011,  // both bits set so that overlap and union work as expected
@@ -34,28 +34,25 @@ enum class Spin : QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t {
 
 // Spin is a scoped enum, hence not implicitly convertible to
 // QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t
-static_assert(
-    !std::is_convertible_v<sequant::mbpt::Spin, QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>);
+static_assert(!std::is_convertible_v<sequant::mbpt::Spin, bitset_t>);
 // QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t cannot be constructed from Spin
-static_assert(!std::is_constructible_v<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t,
-                                       sequant::mbpt::Spin>);
+static_assert(!std::is_constructible_v<bitset_t, sequant::mbpt::Spin>);
 // but Spin can be cast to QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t
-static_assert(meta::is_statically_castable_v<sequant::mbpt::Spin,
-                                             QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>);
+static_assert(meta::is_statically_castable_v<sequant::mbpt::Spin, bitset_t>);
 // Spin cannot be cast to nonsense ...
 static_assert(
     !meta::is_statically_castable_v<sequant::mbpt::Spin, std::string>);
 
 inline Spin operator~(Spin s) {
-  return static_cast<Spin>(~(static_cast<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>(s)));
+  return static_cast<Spin>(~(static_cast<bitset_t>(s)));
 }
 inline Spin operator|(Spin s1, Spin s2) {
-  return static_cast<Spin>(static_cast<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>(s1) |
-                           static_cast<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>(s2));
+  return static_cast<Spin>(static_cast<bitset_t>(s1) |
+                           static_cast<bitset_t>(s2));
 }
 inline Spin operator&(Spin s1, Spin s2) {
-  return static_cast<Spin>(static_cast<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>(s1) &
-                           static_cast<QuantumNumbersAttr::bitset_t>(s2));
+  return static_cast<Spin>(static_cast<bitset_t>(s1) &
+                           static_cast<bitset_t>(s2));
 }
 
 /// converts QuantumNumbersAttr to Spin