USE OF TIME-DEPENDENT WAVE-PACKET THEORY IN ELECTRON-MOLECULE SCATTERING

Time-dependent wave-packet theory [B. Ritchie, Phys. Rev. A 45, R4207 (1992)] is applied to electron-molecule scattering. The Schrodinger eq uation is solved in time and space on a numerical grid, thus avoiding use of basis-set expansions. A plane-wave-centered, Gaussian wave pack et is propagated through the region of the potential. Once the wave pa cket has passed outside the range of the potential, the differential c ross section is calculated directly from the multidimensional wave fun ction by use of the Huygens-Fresnel integral from optics.