Theoretical study of positron scattering from pentane isomers

Highlights: • Investigation of isomeric effect in positron impact scattering. • Cross sections reported for a wide energy range of 1–5000 eV. • Inclusion of molecular structure in the computations. • Efficient method to include positronium formation in the scattering channel. • Consistent results obtained in terms of shape and magnitude with previous study. This work aims to probe isomeric effect in case of positron scattering. In this pursuit, we have chosen pentane $\left(C_5{H}_{12}\right)$ as the target molecule. The structural isomers of pentane offers a perfect prototype to investigate isomeric effect and thus may give further knowledge into the role of the geometrical arrangements of atoms in a target molecule during the positron scattering process. The grand total, integral elastic and differential cross section are reported using the modified spherical complex optical potential (mSCOP) method. The cross sections do not exhibit isomeric effect, which is in accordance with the experimental observation.