In this work we study the single electron emission from fullerene clusters upon the impact of low-energy electrons. The calculations of the quantum ground states of the fullerene are performed within the Hartree-Fock and the jellium shell model. The interaction between the incoming projectile and knocked out electrons is described on the basis of random phase approximation with exchange, which leads to the concept of screening of the inter-electronic interaction. We compare the results of the calculations with available experimental data for the ionization of C 60 by electron impact and show that neglect of polarization leads to results at variance with experimental finding. Ó 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Jellium models; Many body and quasi-particle theories; Electron density, excitation spectra calculations; Electron bombardment; Electron emission; Electron-solid interactionsThe aim of this work is the investigation of the single ionization of the fullerene cluster from its (single-particle) ground state j/ 2j i upon the impact of an electron with wave vector k 0 . In the final channel two electrons recede from the residual cluster to emerge with asymptotic momenta k 1 and k 2 . The transition amplitude for such a reaction is given byE 0 is the total kinetic energy of the two electrons and P ¼ G 0 þ G 0 V P is the total Green operator of the projectile-cluster system with the total potential V. The interaction between the projectile and the knocked-out electron is designated by V 12 . Here we report on the calculation of the first-order term of Eq.(1) as well as of the next terms due to the electron-hole excitations. In the presence of the external electron with momentum k 0 the self-consistent cluster potential changes. Taking into account the polarization of the electronic cloud, we write the amplitude of the process as a sum of two terms. The ''direct'' one corresponds to the excitation of the cluster's electron labeled by index ''2'' from the jth bound state / 2j to the continuum state with the asymptotic momentum k 2 . The second ''correlation'' term describes correction, which appears from electron-hole excitations. Thus, in the random phase approximation with exchange (RPAE) the matrix element reads