ABSTRACT
Low-energy electron scattering from gaseous molecules of ever-increasing complexity has been studied for more than half a century with different experimental and theoretical approaches. One way to understand the role of resonances in molecular nuclear dynamics initiated by low-energy electron impact is to look at shape resonances. The calculation of the real segment of the potential energy surfaces is, at present, a reasonably straightforward task. The Schwinger multichannel method (SMC) is a variational approach to the scattering amplitude based on the Lippmann– Schwinger integral equation. As the SMC method is based on the integral formulation of the collision problem, the Green’s function accounts for the scattering boundary condition. The one-electron nature of the low-energy resonances, together with a simple language of potential scattering theory, led to the development of optical potential methods. The chapter aims to determine computationally the dominant electronic symmetry components that drive resonant vibrational excitation of cyclopropane.
