Formation and Breakup Rates of RbXe van der Waals Molecules in He AND N2 Gas (Abstract)

Norman Ramsey and Eli Miron and X. Zeng and Will Happer

The efficiency of He, as a third body, in the formation and breakup of RbXe van der Waals molecules has been measured. The formation and breakup rates of RbXe molecules are the same if a given pressure of nitrogen gas is replaced by 1.6 times more helium gas to serve as a third body. The nuclear spin relaxation of 129Xe in 87Rb is described by a universal function of the third-body pressure measured in units of a characteristic pressure P0.

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