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Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
The Relative Alignment of Electron Momenta in Atoms and Molecules and the Effect of a Static Electric Field
Joshua W Hollett1,2, Wen Li3
1Department of Chemistry, University of Winnipeg , Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2G3, Canada.
Abstract:
The relative momentum of electron pairs in atoms and small molecules is examined through calculation of the p1 · p2 probability distribution. The likelihood of aligned or antialigned momenta between paired electrons is determined from the calculated distributions. Coulomb correlation aligns the momenta of electron pairs, and the amount of alignment varies when considering momenta in specific directions in three-dimensional space. A static electric field is found to have competing effects on momentum alignment parallel and perpendicular to the electric field. However, the net effect of the electric field on alignment is significantly smaller than the effect of Coulomb correlation. Recent experimental advances suggest that such a correlation of electron momenta can now be measured directly using attosecond spectroscopic tools.
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