Effect of inelastic transitions on the line shape of surface resonances

Abstract We show that the inelastic resonant processes discussed by Cantini and Tatarek affect the line shape of elastic resonances. This effect is not included in the Debye-Waller correction to the repulsive matrix elements, as used by Hutchison and others, and may explain the discrepancy between the line strengths predicted by Hutchison's formulae and those observed by Cantini et al.