NUCLEAR SPIN RELAXATION IN GASEOUS METHANE AND ITS DEUTERATED MODIFICATIONS

Abstract

The spin-lattice relaxation time T1 for protons and deuterons in CH4, CH3D, CH2D2, CHD3, and CD4 has been measured as a function of density ρ and temperature T for 0.1 Amagat [Formula: see text] Amagats and [Formula: see text] The results are interpreted, using the approximation that the correlation function of each operator in the angular momentum coordinates is expressed as a product of the free molecule correlation function and an exponentially decaying function of time. The proton spin relaxation is found to be due to the spin-rotation interaction, while the deuteron spin relaxation is due to the intramolecular quadrupolar interaction.