Elastic scattering of electron by water molecule in high and intermediate energy regions

By means of the eikonal theory of Glauber, differential cross sections are computed for the electron elastic scattering from a water molecule in the high and intermediate energy regions of electrons: i.e. for energies higher than 50 eV. The calculated differential cross sections are found to be in a good agreement with recent experimental data. As the target wave functions, the molecular orbitals given by Lin and Duncan (a united atom model with fixed nuclei) are used for simplicity. The validity of the model is tested by a comparison among the Born differential cross sections calculated by the use of a few different wave functions of the water molecule. (author)