Slowing Down of Rubidium-Induced Nuclear Spin Relaxation of Xe129 Gas in a Magnetic Field

The longitudinal relaxation rate of $^{129}\mathrm{Xe}$ nuclear spins slows down substantially in an external magnetic field of about 100 G. From an analysis of the magnetic slowing down and of the dependence of the zero-field relaxation rates on the third-body pressure, the authors have deduced the magnitudes of the spin-rotation and spin-exchange interactions in the ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{129}$Xe molecule, as well as the formation and breakup rates of RbXe in ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ gas and the dissociation constant of RbXe. The magnetic slowing down shows directly that binary collisions contribute no more than a few percent to the relaxation rates.