ELASTIC ELECTRON-SCATTERING FROM RARE-GASES WITH EXACT EXCHANGE - A NEW CORRELATION-POLARIZATION POTENTIAL

The many-body correlation forces which act between the impinging electron and the bound electrons of the target atoms are treated here using a newly developed correlation-polarisation potential that originates from the calculation of correlation energies in electronic bound states of atoms and molecules. The new formulation of such forces is shown to be particularly effective for the present systems once all the other forces at play are treated exactly within the Hartree-Fock scheme. The calculations of this paper compare our new density functional theory (DFT) approach (Gianturco and Rodriguez-Ruiz, 1993) with an earlier homogeneous electron gas (FEG) model for correlation forces (O'Connell and Lane, 1983) and clearly indicate the superior quality of a more realistic Hartree-Fock description of the density functional for the bound electrons. Excellent accord is obtained between experimental cross-sections and theoretical results, both for differential and integral elastic electron scattering cross-sections, over a very broad range of collision energies.