Polarized electrons have been scattered superelastically from laser-excited unpolarized sodium atoms (deexcitation of the 3 2P~/2 or 3 2P3/2 states). The left-right scattering asymmetry, which results from an interplay of the atomic charge cloud orientation, atomic fine-structure interaction and exchange processes, has been measured for energies between 6 and 20 eV and scattering angles ranging from 40 to 120 ° . Within the experimental uncertainty the Percival-Seaton hypothesis, which is the basis of current theoretical calculations for electron-sodium collisions, has been confirmed. However, the quantitative agreement between experimental and numerical results is satisfactory only for a 2-state close-coupling calculation of Moores.
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