Proper Choice of Final-State Wave Function for Dissociation and Its Effect on the Angular Distribution of Dissociation Fragments

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Abstract
The collisional dissociation of a homopolar diatomic molecule has been heretofore described in terms of a transition to the vibrational continuum of a single Born-Oppenheimer electronic state. This choice of final state, which is shown to be incorrect, yields dissociation-fragment angular distributions which are symmetric about an angle of 90 deg with respect to the beam. The proper final state yields angular distributions which need not possess this symmetry.