Total cross sections for inelastic scattering of charged particles by atoms and molecules. VII. The neon atom

The Bethe theory for the calculation of the total inelastic cross section sigma /sub tot/ for the scattering of fast charged particlcs by atoms and molecules is applied to neon. As part of the analysis, the spectral distribution of the oscillator strength has been determined by critical evaluation of all experimental data and by test of several sum rules. Thc result is sigma /sub tot/ = z/sup 2/ BETA /sup -2/{3.524STA1n9 BETA /sup 2/(1 - BETA / sup 2/) - BETA /sup 2/)) - BETA /sup 2/! + 36.06} x 10/sup 20/ cm/sup 2/ for a particle of charge ze and speed BETA c. As an applicati on, thc ionization cross section is estimated by subtracting the sum of all the discret excitation cross sections from sigma /sub tot/ and is compared with experimental values. (auth)