Open channel effects on the spin polarization parameters for elastic scattering of electrons from the heavy noble gases

Synopsis We investigate the effects of using an ab initio complex optical potential to calculate the spin polarization parameters S, T and U for spin polarized electrons elastically scattering from the heavy noble gases at intermediate energies. We carry out our calculations within the framework of the Dirac scattering equations which include the spin of the electron explicitly. The real part of the optical potential represents the polarization of the target by the incident electron while the imaginary part takes into account the loss of incident flux into open inelastic channels. The values of the STU parameters for scattering angles near the minima of the differential cross sections are very sensitive to the details of the theoretical model.