ALGEBRAIC ROTATING-FRAME APPROACH TO ELECTRON-MOLECULE SCATTERING

An approach to electron scattering from molecules is discussed, in whi ch an algebraic description of the rovibrational states in the molecul e (vibron model) is combined with a rotating-frame approximation. The latter was first introduced for atomic-molecule scattering under the n ame centrifugal sudden approximation. The coupled multichannel problem reduces to single-channel central potential scattering with a fluctua ting potential. The method is applied to electron scattering from a ri gid molecule with large dipole moment. Comparison with exact coupled-c hannel calculation shows that the approach works well for all partial waves except those with very low angular momentum. The method is also compared with the algebraic eikonal approach.