Abstract
The theory of photoejection spectra of molecular anions is adapted for application to analyses of optical absorption data of solvated electrons in a number of different solvents. The results obtained generally support the identification of solvated electron optical absorption spectra entirely as bands of bound-to-continuum transitions and not as bound-to-bound transitions. Analyses of the absorbance behavior near the threshold for absorption lead to the conclusion that the solvated electron ground state deviates appreciably from spherical symmetry. Alternatively, the solvated electron ground state in ND3 may be nearly spherically symmetric with a thermally accessible excited state of lower symmetry.