SCATTERING OF ELECTRONS BY LITHIUM ATOMS

The 2s, 2p close-coupling equations for electron scattering by lithium atoms are solved from threshold to 54·4 ev. Both the elastic scattering and the 2s-2p excitation cross sections are evaluated. At very low energies the cross sections are shown to be dominated by resonances. At energies between 1 ev and 10 ev the total cross section can be compared with experiment. Any lack of agreement cannot be explained simply by the slow convergence of the close-coupling approximation. Finally, the spin polarization cross section and the polarization of 2p-2s impact radiation are calculated. Comparison of the latter calculation with experiment is satisfactory.