ELASTIC SCATTERING OF LOW-ENERGY ELECTRONS FROM MOLECULAR HYDROGEN,
Abstract
The cross sections for elastic scattering of low energy electrons by molecular hydrogen are calculated by solving numerically the continuum Hartree-Fock equations for an electron moving in the potential field of the neutral homonuclear diatomic hydrogen molecule. Hartree-Fock equations make full allowance for electron exchange. The cross sections for elastic scattering of electrons by molecular hydrogen are treated with and without the assumption of electron exchange. The theoretical agreement in the exchange approximation is very good when compared with experimental data, but disappears completely when exchange is neglected. The method of calculation is based on an expansion of the continuum orbitals up to fourth order as a product of a series of spherical harmonics and radial wave functions about the molecular midpoint of the molecule. The potential field of the incident electron caused by the nuclei of the neutral molecule is expanded in spherical harmonics up to the eighth order. The continuum orbitals are substituted into the Hartree-Fock equations, integration is performed over angular coordinates, and the resulting infinite set of coupled differential-integral equations is truncated and solved numerically to a self-consistent solution by an iterative technique for three radial continuum functions. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0655785
Entities
People
- Howard S. Taylor
- Roger L. Wilkins
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation