The difFerential cross sections for the emission of Li, La2, La, LP, and Ly groups of L x-ray lines induced in Au by 59.57-keV photons have been measured at different angles varying from 40 to 120' at intervals of 10 . The La2 line has been isolated by using preferential absorption of the Lcz line in a Zn absorber of suitable thickness. The L x rays represented by the LI, La2, and Ln peaks are found to be anisotropic in the spatial distribution while those in the LP and Ly peaks are isotropic. The Ll peak has greater anisotropy than the La peak. The anisotropy of La2 line is opposite to that of Lal line. The present results contradict the predictions of Cooper and Zare [/itornic Collision Processes (Gordon and Breach, New York, 1969)],that the vacancy state produced after photoionization is not aligned irrespective of its J value, but confirm those of Flugge, Mehlhorn, and Schmidt [Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 7 (1972)] that the vacancy state with J& 2 is aligned. 1990 PACS number(s): 32.80.Fb, 32.30. -r INTRODUCTION The theoretical predictions of Cooper and Zare [l] and Flugge, Mehlhorn, and Schmidt [2] for the angular distribution of fluorescent x rays emitted after photoionization of inner-shell electrons are contradictory and need experimental verification.The calculations of Cooper and Zare [1] predict that after photoionization the inner-shell vacancy state is not aligned, irrespective of the value of its angular momentum, and the emission of fluorescent x rays consequent to its decay is isotropic. However, later calculations of Flugge, Mehlhorn, and Schmidt [2] do not fully confirm this expectation but show that if angular momentum J of the vacancy state is greater than -, ', it is aligned and the resulting x-ray emission is anisotropic. Thus, according to Flugge, Mehlhorn, and Schmidt [2] only those fluorescent x rays that originate from the decay of vacancy states in K, L j, L2, M &, and M2 subshells with J = -, ' will be isotropically emitted, but those from L 3 M3 and hf 4 subshells with J = -, ' and from the Afs ubshell with J = -, will show anisotropic spatial distribution. In order to test theoretical calculations, we have measured the di6'erential cross sections for the emission of LI, L a, L/3, and L y groups of L x rays of Au by 59.57-keV y rays at dift'erent angles ranging from 40' to 120 at intervals of 10. %'e have also made an e6'ort to obtain information about the angular distribution of the La2 line separately by isolating it with a thin Zn absorber that absorbs the La, line preferentially. The experirnental setup, method of measurement, and results are reported in this paper.table so that the source and target could be moved together with respect to the detector, which was kept fixed at one position. The shielding was arranged so that the 59.57-keV y rays emitted from the 'Am source of strength of approximately 100 mCi were made to fall on a 99.99% pure metallic Au target of thickness 40 mg/cm . The radiation emitted from the target at an angle 0 after the interaction of y rays with it was collim...