Fig. 3: Filming nuclear motion in D₂O²⁺.

a–c Measured distributions of deuteron momentum (\({p}_{{{{{{{{{\rm{D}}}}}}}}}^{+}}\)), oxygen-ion momentum (\({p}_{{{{{{{{{\rm{O}}}}}}}}}^{+}}\)), and momentum-frame bend-angle (β) plotted as a function of interpulse delay (Δt), detected in the triply charged three-body dissociation channel (D⁺/D⁺/O⁺). d–f Theoretical distributions of \({p}_{{{{{{{{{\rm{D}}}}}}}}}^{+}}\), \({p}_{{{{{{{{{\rm{O}}}}}}}}}^{+}}\), and β as a function of Δt. g–k A series of film-strip plots for the class of trajectory labeled “slingshot”. These plots display both the position of the atoms (red solid circles for oxygen and black open circles for hydrogen) and their corresponding asymptotic momenta following formation of the trication. l–p Another series of film-strip plots for the class of trajectory labeled “two-body”. The slingshot and two-body trajectories are highlighted in (d–f) where a solid yellow line represents the slingshot trajectory, and the dashed (and dotted) black lines represent the two-body trajectory.