Low energy elastic and inelastic scattering of positrons from formic acid

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed study of low energy positron scattering from formic acid, examining elastic scattering, electronic excitation and ionisation processes. Through detailed comparisons with previous experimental and theoretical data, it is clear that the picture for positron scattering from this target remains incomplete, with significant disagreement between experiment and theory in the comparisons of differential cross section data. Calculations of elastic electron scattering are unexpectedly in better agreement with the positron scattering experiments, and give some hints as to potential areas for improvement in the modelling of scattering for targets which tend to be dominated by dipole interactions.