Polarization potential for e‐argon scattering by differential scattering minimization at intermediate energies

The differential scattering cross section (DCS) for electrons scattered elastically by argon atoms is studied using a model potential. In the present study the long range polarization potential is represented by an energy‐dependent function in the form V p ( E , r )=α d /[ r +ξ( a , b , E )] 4 and the short range part is constructed from the nonrelativistic Hartree–Fock wave function of the target atom in the form V s ( r )=(2 Z / r )∑ n C n exp {− nC 0 r }. Accurate phase shifts have been computed for angular momentum in the range 0<ℓ<13 from the Schrödinger equation and the Born approximation for higher values of ℓ<1000. The computed differential cross section obtained using the approximate effective interaction potential for electrons scattered by the target atoms in their ground state is compared with available published results. In the present study the parameters contained in the energy‐dependent polarization potential are determined by the minimization of the DCS with respect to angle θ and the incident energy of E . The critical values of angle and energy (θ c , E c ) are found to be (117.3°, 120.0 eV), (64.1°, 41.3 eV), and (140.1°, 37.3 eV). The resulting DCS in the angular range 2°<θ<178° is found to be an improvement over earlier results and in better agreement with the available experimental data in the intermediate energy range. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002