Nature:
A computer simulation that put hydrogen molecules in a 10
5-tesla magnetic field has yielded a surprising
result. In their lowest energy state, the molecules aligned
parallel to the magnetic field lines. But when the electron
energy levels were raised to the molecular bond's breaking
point, instead of breaking, the molecules reoriented so that
they were perpendicular to the magnetic field, thereby
exhibiting a new kind of bonding. Trygve Helgaker, a quantum
chemist involved in the simulations, says that depending on
their geometry, other molecules will also be able to reorient
themselves, allowing the electrons to rotate around the field
lines. Such huge magnetic fields, with strengths 10 000 times
what can be generated on Earth, are only known to exist in
white dwarfs and neutron stars.
