“…Thus, if we excited a pure molecular triplet state by exchange, T = 2/3 [1]. Following dissociation, we assume that the atomic 3s, 3p, and 3d states all have equal spin polarization T', and that this polarization is completely coupled to the orbital angular momentum in the case of the 3p and 3d states, while we ignore hyperfine depolarization [12]. Taking into account the branching ratio between Hα and Lyα radiation (see Figure 3), assuming that light from the 3s state is unpolarized, and using published data for the relative production cross sections for 3s, 3p, and 3d states as the result of electron impact dissociation of H 2 [14], we can infer a threshold value of T' =0.37.…”