Determination of the transition dipole moment μi→b(R) in H2 from the measurement of vibrational wave functions

In this work we present a theoretical and experimental study of the i 3Π-g→b 3Σ+u transition dipole moment in molecular hydrogen. By means of translational spectroscopy the functional dependence on internuclear distance of the transition dipole moment was directly probed. Selective excitation of the i 3Π-g, N=1 level, being unaffected by rotational couplings with other 3d singly excited states, allows for straightforward comparison with ab initio calculations. Excellent agreement is found