Polarisation, alignment and spin asymmetry in electron-sodium resonant scattering

A two-potential localised exchange approach is used to study the dynamics of the atomic collision process in electron impact excitation of the resonant transition in sodium at three intermediate energies: 12.1, 22.1 and 30 eV. Results are presented for the angular variation of the components of polarisation (P 1 , P 2 and P 3 ) of the radiation emitted normal to the scattering plane. From these results the coherence of excitation and the alignment of the charge cloud ( gamma ) are investigated. Differential and total spin asymmetry in the scattering of spin-polarised electrons with spin-polarised sodium are also studied.