Scattering of Electrons by Atomic Systems

Abstract

The theory of the scattering of electrons by atoms or ions with any number of incomplete subshells is developed within the Hartree-Fock, or close-coupling, approximation. Allowance is made for the target system to be excited to any electronic configuration constructed from discrete orbitals. The one-electron orbitals of the discrete subshells are assumed known; the scattering (continuum) functions are given as the solutions of coupled integrodifferential equations with prescribed boundary conditions. The form of these equations is such that the continuum functions are orthogonal to all the discrete orbitals. The form of these equations is such that the continuum functions are orthogonal to all the discrete orbitals. The potential terms appearing in the equations are written in terms of the generalized angular momentum recoupling coefficients. A technique for calculating these coefficients on a computer, which is a complicated algebraic problem, is presented in an Appendix. A computer code for calculating the various elastic, inelastic, and photoionization cross sections has been written and is currently being tested.