B-spline R-matrix with pseudostates calculations for electron collisions with atomic nitrogen*

The \hbox{{\it B}-spline} \hbox{{\it R}-matrix} (BSR) with pseudo\-states method~[1] is employed to treat electron collisions with nitrogen atoms. Predictions for elastic scattering, excitation, and ionization are presented for incident energies between threshold and about 100~eV. The largest scattering model included 690 coupled states, most of which were pseudostates that simulate the effect of the high-lying Rydberg spectrum and, most importantly, the ionization continuum on the results for transitions between the discrete physical states of interest. Similar to our recent work on e-C collisions~[2], this effect is particularly strong at ``intermediate'' incident energies of a few times the ionization threshold. Predictions from a number of collision models will be compared with each other and the very limited information currently available in the literature. Estimates for ionization cross sections will also be provided.\\[4pt] [1] O. Zatsarinny and K. Bartschat, J. Phys. B~{\bf 46} (2013) 112001.\\[0pt] [2] Y. Wang, O. Zatsarinny, and K. Bartschat, Phys. Rev. A~{\bf 87} (2013) 012704.