T h e energy of t h e g r o u n d s t a t e of t h e h y d r o g e n molecule has been c o m p u t e d using t w o -c e n t r e one electron molecular orbitals to build t h e wave function. These twoc e n t r e orbitals are similar to t h e functions which give very accurate energy values for t h e H + -i o n . T h e p r e s e n t c o m p u t a t i o n is similar to t h e one m a k i n g use of p r o d u c t s of one electron hydrogen-like configurations to build wave functions for a t o m i c helium.
T
h e c o m p u t a t i o n s p r e s e n t e d here show t h a t for t h e h y d r o g e n molecule satisfactory results are o b t a i n e d in t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d of t h e equilibrium i n t e r n u c l e a r distance if H + -l i k e configurations are used to c o n s t r u c t t h e wave function. T h e calculated values for t h e energy of the h y d r o g e n molecule a p p r o a c h t h e values
calculated b y J a m e s a n d C o o l i d g e in 1933 b e t t e r t h a n a n y o t h e r c o m p u t a t i o n reported so far; t h e configur a t i o n s used are (lsa) 2, (2pa) 2 a n d (2p~)2; w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n of configurations of t h e t y p e (3de) 2 a n d o t h e r s m u c h b e t t e r results can be expected.