Hyperfine Structure of Zeeman Levels in Nitric Oxide

This paper contains a calculation of the energy arising from the magnetic interaction of the extranuclear electrons with the magnetic moment of the nitrogen nucleus in ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}$. An operator is derived for the interaction, which is more fundamental than the one, proportional to I·J, which is commonly used. This operator is employed, together with previously calculated state functions, to compute the hyperfine structure of the ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}\Pi _{\frac{3}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state of ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}$. The formula which results from this procedure accounts for the experimental data, which cannot be explained completely if the interaction operator is taken to be proportional to I·J.