Intermediate-Energy Electron-Atom Scattering. I

Abstract

The problem of electron-atom scattering in the energy range where both high- and low-energy methods are unreliable is considered. A previously proposed equation is made tractable by a separable approximation on the electron-electron correlation function. This results in a pair of coupled equations in which all inelastic channels are lumped into one effective one. The equations are then reduced to a tractable form by some drastic approximations and solved by an eikonal approximation. The results are good in a restricted angular range, and the restrictions are shown to be due to the "drastic approximations" and the eikonal approximation, neither of which is really necessary.