The complex Kohn method is used to study electron-methane scattering with polarized trial functions at incident energies ranging from 0.2 to 10 eV. A perturbative method, which only requires the construction of Fock operators, is used to generate a set of polarized virtual orbitals. These polarized orbitals are then used to construct a compact ab initio scattering function that produces cross sections that are in excellent agreement with experiments in the region of the Ramsauer-Townsend minimum and at higher energies, where a broad maximum is present in the integral cross section. This is the first ab initio study to accurately characterize low-energy electron-methane scattering.

• Received 15 November 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.44.4296