Elastic and inelastic cross sections for positron scattering from molecular oxygen

• Published in: The European physical journal. D, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Vol. 77; no. 10
• Main Authors: Pinheiro, Jenifer G., Assafrão, Denise, Poveda, Luis A., Mohallem, José R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory; Atomic; Electron and Positron Interactions and Their Applications-a tribute to Professor Michael Brunger; Excitation; Inelastic scattering; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Oxygen; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Positron scattering; Positronium; Potential energy; Quantum Information Technology; Quantum Physics; Regular Article – Atomic and Molecular Collisions; Scattering cross sections; Spectroscopy/Spectrometry; Spintronics; Vibration mode
• ISSN: 1434-6060; 1434-6079
• DOI: 10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00764-9

Elastic, vibrational and rotational cross sections for positron scattering from molecular oxygen are reported within the close-coupling formalism, using a three-dimensional positron–target potential energy surface. The present elastic values show good agreement with a recently reported theoretical prediction and helps to better understand the observed discrepancies between theory and experiment for energies below 1 eV . For energies up to the opening of the positronium channel, details of the elastic cross section are also discussed. The cross section for excitation of the fundamental vibrational mode shows a sharp onset at threshold followed by a peak, similar to the observed in our previous work for the N 2 target, although roughly three times greater than the last one. The rotational excitation cross sections for positron scattering from O 2 are reported. Graphical abstract