Lifetimes of the(5p56s)P11andP13States of Xenon

The lifetimes of the $\left(5\mathrm{}{p}^{5}6s\right){}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ and ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ states of Xe were measured by the zero-field level-crossing method (Hanle effect). The lifetimes are $\tau \left({}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}\right)=3.79\mathrm{}\pm 0.12\times {10}^{-9\mathrm{}}$ sec and $\tau \left({}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}\right)=3.17\mathrm{}\pm 0.19\times {10}^{-9\mathrm{}}$ sec. The corresponding oscillator strengths are ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}f=0.256\mathrm{}\pm 0.008$ and ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}f=0.238\mathrm{}\pm 0.015$. The sum ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}f+{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}f$ for the rare gases Ne to Xe is now known. The intermediate coupling coefficients derived from the lifetime ratio are in agreement with the theory of Wolfe, but not with that of Breit and Wills.