Total (elastic+absorption) cross sections fore-CH4collisions in a spherical model at 0.10–500 eV

Electron-${\mathrm{CH}}_4$ scattering is investigated in a wide energy range (0.1–500 eV) by using a previously proposed spherical model [A. Jain, J. Chem. Phys. 81, 724 (1984)]. The study is divided into three energy regions: the 0.1–1.0-eV region, where a well-known minimum occurs in the total cross section [Ramsauer-Townsend (RT) effect], between 2 and 20 eV, with a d-wave broad structure around 7–8 eV, and from 20 to 500 eV, where inelastic channels (mainly ionization and dissociation) dominate over the elastic process. It is shown that a simple model, in which the total optical complex potential is spherical, is capable of reproducing qualitative features in the total, differential, and momentum-transfer cross sections in the present energy region.