Low-energy electron elastic scattering cross sections for excited Au and Pt atoms

Electron elastic total cross sections (TCSs) and differential cross sections (DCSs) in both impact energy and scattering angle for the excited Au and Pt atoms are calculated in the electron impact energy range 0 ⩽ E ⩽ 4.0 eV. The cross sections are found to be characterized by very sharp long-lived resonances whose positions are identified with the binding energies of the excited anions formed during the collisions. The recent novel Regge-pole methodology wherein is embedded through the Mulholland formula the electron–electron correlations is used together with a Thomas–Fermi type potential incorporating the crucial core-polarization interaction for the calculations of the TCSs. The DCSs are evaluated using a partial wave expansion. The Ramsauer–Townsend minima, the shape resonances and the binding energies of the excited Au− and Pt− anions are extracted from the cross sections, while the critical minima are determined from the DCSs.