Applications to Other Atoms

Abstract

For atoms beyond hydrogen, there are no exact wave functions. Interelectronic relative coordinates provide very accurate variational wave functions for helium. Such coordinates cannot easily be used even for the three-electron continuum problem of electron-helium scattering, and they present great difficulties for heavier atoms. Some compromise must be made in the accuracy of representation of a complex target atom in order to make calculations of electron scattering feasible. Even for light atoms, most existing calculations have been limited to the Hartree-Fock approximation for target atom states, while the polarization response is represented at the level of first-order perturbation theory.