Non-statistical formation of J=1 T2 (ortho-T2) in recombination reaction of T+T+M→T2+M in liquid helium at 1.42–2.50 K

During the course of an investigation on chemical behaviors of hydrogen isotopes in quantum media, non-statistical formation of ortho-T2 was observed in recombination reaction of T+T+3,4He→T2+3,4He in liquid 3He–4He mixture at 1.42–2.50 K. The experimental ortho-T2 fractions are larger than 0.9. The values are considerably higher than the equilibrium fraction of 0.75 at room temperature. Similar results have been reported in H–H recombination at low temperature. These facts suggest that similar reaction mechanism would be applied to both H and T atoms, which have the same nuclear spin number of 1/2.