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Oxygen gas in ground state is spin polarized. Is the direction of its spin (significantly) correlated to the orientation of the double bond?

I googled "orientation of oxygen magnetic moment" and couldn't find relevant result. My guess is that there is no significant correlation between the orientation of the double bond and the orientation of the magnetic moment because the spin polarization arises from spin-spin coupling, not spin-orbit coupling. The lack of spin-orbit coupling (of relevant strength) means the spin "doesn't know" the orientation of the molecule and the different energy state that corresponds to different spin direction is essentially degenerate.

Is my thinking here correct?

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    $\begingroup$ Look for angular momentum coupling cases, such as Hund's rules, case (b) should be appropriate here. In this case the spin angular momentum is fixed in space (S does not couple with the intermolecular axis) and the molecule rotates underneath it. $\endgroup$
    – porphyrin
    Feb 7 at 8:28
  • $\begingroup$ got it. thanks. $\endgroup$
    – Bohan Xu
    Nov 6 at 19:01

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