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Magnetic dipole transitions in the OH $A\,^2Σ^+ \leftarrow X\,^2Π$ system

We report on the observation of magnetic dipole allowed transitions in the well-characterized $A\,^2Σ^+ - X\,^2Π$ band system of the OH radical. A Stark decelerator in combination with microwave Rabi spectroscopy is used to control the populations in selected hyperfine levels of both $Λ$-doublet components of the $X\,^2Π_{3/2},v=0,J=3/2$ ground state. Theoretical calculations presented in this paper predict that the magnetic dipole transitions in the $ν'=1 \leftarrow ν=0$ band are weaker than the electric dipole transitions by a factor of $2.58\times 10^3$ only, i.e., much less than commonly believed. Our experimental data confirm this prediction.