Relaxation Processes in a System of Two Spins

Abragam and Pound's method for the calculation of the longitudinal relaxation time T₁ has been extended to the transverse relaxation time T₂. Explicit calculations have been carried out for a pure dipole-dipole interaction, showing that for an interacting pair of like spins, or for nuclei in paramagnetic solution, T₁ is exactly equal to T₂ in the extreme narrow case. For a pair of interacting unlike spins, it is shown that the longitudinal components of the magnetic moments do not have simple exponential decays. This gives rise to a steady and transient Overhauser effect. The transverse components, however, have in all cases, simple exponential decay defined by a single relaxation time T₂. A set of modified Bloch's equations is found, giving the correct equation of motion of the macroscopic magnetic moments of such a system of pairs of unlike spins. The equality of T₁ and T₂ has been verified in paramagnetic solutions, and a nuclear Overhauser effect has been observed in anhydrous hydrofluoric acid. If one assumes that the extreme narrow case corresponds to the actual motion, the experimental results are not consistent with the picture of a pure dipole-dipole interaction between the hydrogen and fluorine nuclei of a molecule without taking into account the effect of the other molecules.