RB XE-129 SPIN-EXCHANGE RATES DUE TO BINARY AND 3-BODY COLLISIONS AT HIGH XE PRESSURES

We have studied the spin relaxation of Xe-129 nuclei due to collisions with Rb atoms at Xe pressures of 245-1817 Torr. Our results can be characterized by two parameters, the Rb-Xe-129 velocity-averaged binary spin-exchange cross section <sigma-v> and a rate gamma-M that characterizes spin relaxation due to van der Waals molecules. Our results complement earlier studies performed at Xe pressures of about 1 Torr and N2 pressures of 10-100 Torr. This work is useful for predicting spin-exchange rates between polarized Rb atoms and Xe-129 nuclei.