Correlation and relaxation effects on the electron-impact excitation of the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield band ofN2

The behavior of the generalized oscillator strength for the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield transition as a function of the transferred momentum is examined, using the Born-Ochkur-Bonham (BOB) approximation with correlated wave functions. It is shown that the experimental behavior can be well described in the region of small and medium ${\mathit{k}}^2$ values, once orbital relaxation and electronic correlation effects are properly taken into account. For large ${\mathit{k}}^2$ values the calculations deviate from the experiments due to the failure of the BOB approximation to describe this region.