Scattering of Slow Electrons by Neon and Argon

Abstract

Total elastic scattering cross sections have been computed for the scattering of electrons by neutral neon and argon in the energy range 0-1 Ry. These results were obtained by the polarized-orbital method wherein a polarization potential accounts for the distortion of the atomic electron distribution by the scattering electron. The polarization potentials are determined using perturbed orbitals obtained by the Sternheimer and Hartree-Fock-Slater (HFS) approximations. Dipole polarizabilities are also calculated. The results are used to evaluate total scattering cross sections by the two approximations and evaluate their capabilities by comparison with experimental data. The HFS-based approximation works very well for neon giving substantially improved cross sections over earlier Sternheimer-based calculations by Thompson. However, little improvement is obtained in either case for argon.