Complete Photo-Induced Breakup of the H 2 Molecule as a Probe of Molecular Electron Correlation

Abstract

Despite decades of progress in quantum mechanics, electron correlation effects are still only partially understood. Experiments in which both electrons are ejected from an oriented hydrogen molecule by absorption of a single photon have recently demonstrated a puzzling phenomenon: The ejection pattern of the electrons depends sensitively on the bond distance between the two nuclei as they vibrate in their ground state. Here, we report a complete numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation for the double photoionization of H ₂ . The results suggest that the distribution of photoelectrons emitted from aligned molecules reflects electron correlation effects that are purely molecular in origin.