Calculations of elastic, ionization and total cross sections for inert gases upon electron impact: threshold to 2 keV

In this paper we report comprehensive calculations of total elastic ( Q(el)), total ionization (Q(ion)) and total (complete) cross sections (Q(T)) for the impact of electrons on inert gases ( He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) at energies from about threshold to 2000 eV. We have employed the spherical complex optical potential ( SCOP) formalism to evaluate Q(el) and Q(T) and used the complex spherical potential-ionization contribution ( CSP-ic) method to derive Q(ion). The dependence of Q(T) on polarizability and incident energy is presented for these targets through an analytical formula. Mutual comparison of various cross sections is provided to show their relative contribution to the total cross sections Q(T). Comparison of Q(T) for all these targets is carried out to present a general theoretical picture of collision processes. The present calculations also provide information, hitherto sparse, on the excitation processes of these atomic targets. These results are compared with available experimental and other theoretical data and overall good agreement is observed.