Mean polarizability of excited molecular hydrogen

The electric polarizabilities of the fourteen bound vibrational states of molecular hydrogen are calculated and found to range from 5.315 a 0 3 for the ground state to 10 065 a 0 3 for the thirteenth excited state. These values are subsequently used to compute the mean polarizability for temperatures ranging from 2000 to 5000 °K. The mean polarizability is found to vary over this temperature range from 5.350 a 0 3 to 5 630 a 0 3 . The results are discussed in connection with recent measurements of the polarizability of atomic hydrogen in which the vibrational states of the molecular hydrogen present in the experimental gas were highly excited.