Elastic scattering of low-energy electrons by nitromethane

In this work, we present integral, differential, and momentum transfer cross sections for elastic scattering of low-energy electrons by nitromethane, for energies up to 10 eV. We calculated the cross sections using the Schwinger multichannel method with pseudopotentials, in the static-exchange and in the static-exchange plus polarization approximations. The computed integral cross sections show a pi* shape resonance at 0.70 eV in the static-exchange-polarization approximation, which is in reasonable agreement with experimental data. We also found a sigma* shape resonance at 4.8 eV in the static-exchange-polarization approximation, which has not been previously characterized by the experiment. We also discuss how these resonances may play a role in the dissociation process of this molecule.