Continuity of heavy Rydberg behaviour in the ungerade ion-pair states of H2

Heavy Rydberg behaviour and absolute quantum defects are reported for resonances in the ungerade manifold of H2 above the (1s, 3l) dissociation limit. The continuity of the vibrational progression of the B\u27\u27B-bar state through the crossing with the 3p asymptote is demonstrated and a predominantly diabatic picture of the vibrational motion emerges, indicating that the ion-pair resonances possess little 61Σu+ state character