Calculations of positron scattering from atomic Carbon

The demand for accurate cross-section data for positrons incident upon atomic targets has only risen in recent years. This has partially resulted from the use of positrons throughout the biomedical industry. To calculate correct cross-sections for the complex biomolecules present in these cases many current methods require accurate cross-section data for the independent atoms which compose them. One such atom is carbon, which constitutes approximately 18% of the human body and is a major component within important biomolecules such as DNA.

We have extended the single-centre collisional close-coupling (CCC) method to obtain structure models and calculate positron scattering for atoms containing any number of active electrons with or without an inert core. This was achieved through utilisation of the MULT program developed by Zatsarinny [1] and the Multiconfigural Hartree Fock (MCHF) code developed by Fischer [2]. With this new method we have generated an accurate target structure model for C and calculated several important cross-sections from the e⁺−C system for energies from threshold to 5000 eV.

[1] O. Zatsarinny, Computer Physics Communications 174, 273 (2006).

[2] C. F. Fischer, Computer Physics Communications 64, 369 (1991).