Abstract
IT is now generally agreed that the higher regions of the atmosphere—beyond 150 km.—consist predominantly of atomic oxygen. The absorption of radio waves in Region F of the ionosphere which lies above this level is thus caused by collision of electrons with neutral oxygen atoms. If one wants to estimate theoretically the frequency of such collision, a knowledge of the cross-section for elastic collision of atomic oxygen becomes necessary; we have therefore thought it desirable to calculate it by quantum mechanics methods for various electron energies up to 13 volts. The method employed for numerical solution is that developed by Hartree1 for the determination of self-consistent fields. The results obtained are shown in the accompanying curves. The collisional cross-section is seen to increase rapidly in a manner not observed for the cases of N2 and O2.2 The fact that atomic oxygen exhibits the Ramsauer effect, as seen from the figure, is of importance in the interpretation of absorption processes occurring in Region F.
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MITRA, S., RAY, B. & GHOSH, S. Cross-section of Atomic Oxygen for Elastic Collision with Electrons, and Region F Absorption. Nature 145, 1017 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/1451017a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1451017a0
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