Formulating analytic expressions for atomic collision cross sections

Methods to formulate analytic expression for atomic collision cross sections as a function of projectile energy are described on the basis of the experiences of the data compilation work for more than 20 years. Topics considered are the choice of appropriate functional forms for the expressions and optimization of adjustable parameters. To make extrapolation possible, functions to be used should have the form with reasonable asymptotic behavior. In this respect, modified Green-McNeal formulas have been found useful for various atomic collision cross sections. For ionization processes, a modified Lotz formula has often given a good fit. The ALESQ code for least-squares fits has been convenient to optimize adjustable parameters in analytic expressions. (author)