Professor Gaines will carry out a broad study of hydrogen isotopes in solid and liquid phases. Specifically the investigator will determine the ortho-hydrogen concentration as a function of time to infer the dynamics of atoms embedded in the molecular solid host. This research will evolve into a study of spin diffusion. The atoms act as powerful relaxation centers but the nuclear polarization will reach them via the spin diffusion. These nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies will also obtain lineshape information. An EPR instrument will be constructed and will yield a direct measure of atom density as a function of time and temperature and thus study low temperature chemical reactions in a well characterized solid host. Emission and absorption spectra will be taken, a new instrument will be obtained at the University of Hawaii.
