Electron-molecule scattering theory: AnR-matrix study of low-energy elastice-N2collisions in the static-exchange approximation

The $R$-matrix formulation of electron-molecule collision theory is applied to low-energy $e$-${\mathrm{N}}_2$ scattering in the static-exchange approximation. Particular attention is given to the determination of basis sets for such $L^2$-variational calculations, and a study of important basis-set characteristics in the context of this collision problem is presented. Results for elastic $e$-${\mathrm{N}}_2$ collisions for scattering energies in the range from about 0.01 to 13.0 eV are reported. The importance of including long-range interactions is briefly discussed.