Elastic scattering of electrons by atoms: a semiphenomenological approach

Elastic scattering of non-relativistic electrons by atoms is described using a semiphenomenological effective potential, which is based on the self-consistent Dirac-Hartree-Fock-Slater field and accounts for exchange and polarisation effects in a simple way. The reliability of an approximate method, yielding accurate cross sections with little numerical work, is investigated for energies down to about 100 eV. Theoretical results are compared with available experimental data. (author)