Solvated dielectrons are the subject of many hypotheses among scientists, but have never been directly observed. They are described as a pair of electrons that is dissolved in liquids such as water or liquid ammonia. To make space for the electrons a cavity forms in the liquid that the two electrons occupy.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Excitation energies and associated orbitals for Na(NH3) 1 (NH3) 1 . The black dotted line corresponds to the ground state, which has one electron in the depicted diffuse 1s/3s(Na) orbital. In the first three excited states (blue dotted lines) this electron is promoted to one of the three depicted 1p/3p(Na) orbitals. Several electronic states follow (not shown here) with the electron in other diffuse peripheral orbitals until the ionization limit (orange dashed line) is reached. The red dotted lines correspond to excited states where one electron from shown ammonia lone pair orbitals is promoted to the 1s/3s(Na) orbital. Credit: Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adh0184 An international research team led by Dr. Sebastian Hartweg, initially at Synchrotron SOLEIL (France), now at the Institute of Physics at the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Ruth Signorell from ETH Zurich, including scientists from the synchrotron SOLEIL and Auburn University has now succeeded in discovering a formation…