Vibrational wave function of a radiatively dissociating level of H2 obtained from the kinetic--energy distribution of the H fragments

Using translational spectroscopy, we have measured the released kinetic energies of the H fragments that are produced in the radiative decay of the g 3Σ/sub g/(v = 5,N = 1) level to the repulsive b 3Σ/sub u/ state. The energy distribution shows undulations directly related to the structure of the excited-state vibrational wave function. For the first time a distribution over the internuclear distance, which involves the excited-state wave function and the transition dipole moment, has been obtained by a transformation of the measured spectrum. We find differences with a calculated distribution for which we give a possible explanation