The ($e, 2e$) reaction promises to be an extremely sensitive probe for molecular wave functions. As an initial test we have applied it to the ${\mathrm{H}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_2$ molecules in order to investigate its sensitivity to electronic and vibrational details. A detailed configuration-interaction wave function fits the data, whereas simpler functions do not. The simple Born-Oppenheimer approximation is confirmed to the accuracy of the experiment. The probe is compared with the Compton profile as a means of investigating the electron momentum distribution in ${\mathrm{H}}_2$.

• Received 18 November 1974

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.34.782