SEMICLASSICAL EXPLANATION OF THE GENERALIZED RAMSAUER-TOWNSEND MINIMAIN ELECTRON-ATOM SCATTERING

The generalized Ramsauer-Townsend minima which occurs, at certain scat tering angles, in the intensity of electrons elastically scattered by atoms have been a subject of interest in atomic physics for over sixty years. While quantum mechanical calculations predict these minima wit h great accuracy, no clear, simple, intuitively appealing description of the underlying scattering processes has been given. It is shown her e for the first time that simple semiclassical calculations provide su ch a description.