Resonant X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy of Molecular Oxygen

Resonant soft x-ray emission spectroscopy has been applied to study the issue of symmetry breaking upon core-hole excitation in molecular oxygen. The results provide direct evidence that the inversion symmetry is not broken in the core-excited states. Furthermore, the experiments themselves demonstrate a new experimental technique of broad applicability for studies of electronic structure and excitation dynamics in free atoms and molecules.