On the Quantum Theory of the Ramsauer Effect

Abstract

The Ramsauer effect does not correspond to the decrease in optical scattering by a particle when the wave-length of the light is increased. For one may compute the cross-section for elastic collision of an electron with an atom, without making the approximations used by Born. If one does this, and neglects the resonance of the colliding electron with the atomic electrons one finds that, for atoms with no dipole moment in the normal state, the cross-section approaches a finite limit when the electronic velocity is decreased. The only general result of this calculation is that the distribution of scattered electrons tends, in this limit, to become uniform over all angles.