Low-energy elastic electron scattering from chloromethane, CH3Cl

We report theoretical as well as (normalized) experimental differential and integral cross sections for vibrationally elastic scattering of low-energy electrons from chloromethane, CH_3Cl, also known as methyl chloride. The theoretical cross sections were computed using the Schwinger multichannel variational method in the single-channel approximation, with polarization effects included via virtual excitations. Cross section measurements were made at incident energies ranging from 0.5 to 100 eV and at scattering angles from 5° to 125°. We compare our data to earlier previous results for this molecule.