ACCURATE ABINITIO TREATMENT OF LOW-ENERGY ELECTRON COLLISIONS WITH ETHYLENE

We report the results of a complex Kohn variational calculation of the low-energy electron scattering from ethylene, C2H4. Our calculations are the first to confirm the existence of the Ramsauer-Townsend effect in a molecule which possesses a permanent quadrupole moment and suggest that such minima may be found in electron-scattering cross sections for many nonpolar molecules. The calculations also reveal a low-energy shape resonance in 2B2g symmetry at 1.83 eV, in excellent agreement with both beam and swarm measurements.