Compton spectroscopy and chemical bonding

In this article we show with the help of two examples how Compton spectrosc opy may be used to study the effect of chemical bonding in materials as div erse as a molecular crystal and a high temperature superconductor. Compton spectroscopy has a long history as an investigative method in condensed mat ter physics and in fact the realisation that the Compton profile is sensiti ve to the effects of chemical bonding dates back at least fifty years. In t he seventies, through the efforts of Weyrich [1] and others [2,3], practica l applications of this realisation were first achieved. We argue that such studies are more and more, relevant thanks to the availability of synchrotr on radiation and efficient computational tools.