The ground state properties of spin-aligned atomic hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium

The internal energy, pressure, and compressibility of ground-state, spin-aligned atomic hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium are calculated assuming that all pair interactions occur via the atomic triplet (spin-aligned) potential. The conditions required to obtain atomic hydrogen and its isotopes in bulk are discussed; such a development would be of value in propulsion systems because of the light mass and energetic recombination of atomic hydrogen. Results show that atomic triplet hydrogen and deuterium remain gaseous at 0 K, and that tritium forms a liquid with a binding energy of approximately -0.75 K per atom at a molar volume of 130 cu cm per mole. The pair distribution function for these systems is calculated, and the predicted superfluid behavior of atomic triplet hydrogen and tritium is briefly discussed.