A study of the threshold behavior in e− + HF scattering based on R-matrix theory

This study of the threshold behavior in e− + HF scattering presents fixed-nuclei R-matrix calculations for internuclear distances between 1.25 and 2.85 Bohr, including electron correlation to a high amount. On the whole, our results confirm the static exchange plus polarization (SEP) results of Morgan and Burke [J. Phys. B 21 (1988) 2091]. For internuclear separations close to 2.5 Bohr evidence for an electronic shape resonance was found. However, this resonance cannot be continued to sufficiently short distances in order to describe the collision process as a completely resonant process. Elastic and vibrationally inelastic cross sections are obtained within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation [B.I. Schneider, M. LeDourneuf, P.G. Burke, J. Phys. B 12 (1979) L365]. The agreement of the obtained cross sections with experimental results supports our conclusions drawn from the fixed-nuclei calculations.