Complex self-consistent-field calculations on shape resonances in electron–Mg and electron–Ca scattering

The complex self-consistent-field (CSCF) method has been used to compute the complex resonance energies and Hartree–Fock wave functions for the low energy 2P shape resonances in electron–magnesium and electron–calcium atom scattering and for the 2D shape resonance in electron–calcium scattering. Comparison with experiment indicates that correlation effects are important in determining the lifetimes of these resonances. It is also demonstrated that it is possible to find a solution of the CSCF equation in some cases by using a real Hamiltonian (no complex coordinates) and only real basis functions.