EXCITATION OF THE LOWEST P-3(1) AND P-1(1) STATES IN ARGON AND XENON BY POLARIZED ELECTRONS

Recent measurements have been made of the spin up-down asymmetry param eter in argon and xenon using electron-photon coincidence techniques. Values for the integrated Stokes parameters for the light emitted foll owing the excitation of the resonance levels P-3(1) and P-1(1) of argo n and xenon by spin-polarized electrons have been obtained. Since thes e measurements give direct information on spin-orbit coupling effects on the scattered electron we have performed relativistic distorted wav e calculations to compare with the experimental data. A full set of st ate multipoles, necessary for a complete description of the experiment s, has been calculated for 20 and 30 eV incident electron energies and is reported here. A comparison of the theoretical and experimental re sults for the integrated Stokes parameters and the spin asymmetry para meters is presented and discussed.