text: A hypothetical schematic diagram for the transition to an H state by photo excitation is shown in the Figure (After ). An absorbed photon causes an electron from the ground state G to an excited state E (red arrow). State E rapidly relaxes via Franck-Condon relaxation to an intermediate locally reordered state I. Through interactions with others of its kind, this state collectively orders to form a macroscopically ordered metastable state H, further lowering its energy as a result. The new state has a broken symmetry with respect to the G or E state, and may also involve further relaxation compared to the I state. The barrier E prevents state H from reverting to the ground state G. If the barrier is sufficiently large compared to thermal energy kT, where k is the Boltzmann constant, the H state can be stable indefinitely.