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Motional Averaging of Nuclear Resonance in a Field Gradient

The traditional view of nuclear-spin decoherence in a field gradient due to molecular self-diffusion is challenged on the basis of temperature dependence of the linewidth, which demonstrates different behaviors between liquids and gases. The conventional theory predicts that in a fluid, linewidth should increase with temperature; however, in gases we observed the opposite behavior. This surprising behavior can be explained using a more detailed theoretical description of the dephasing function that accounts for position autocorrelation effects.