Total cross sections for positron scattering on benzene - angular resolution corrections

We compare recent measurements of total cross sections for positron scattering in benzene from Trento laboratory [G.P. Karwasz, R.S. Brusa, Z. Idziaszek, A. Karbowski, Eur. J. Phys. D 144 (2007) 197] with early [O. Sueoka, J. Phys. B 21 (1988) L631], later [O. Sueoka, M.K. Kawada, M. Kimura, Nucl. Instr. Method. Phys. B 171 (2000) 96] and the most recent [C. Makochekanwa, O. Sueoka, M. Kimura, Phys. Rev. A 68 (2003) 32707-1] data from Tokyo laboratory. The latter data are significantly lower than the two other sets. A simple calculation shows that an angular resolution correction, rising strongly in the limit of zero energy, should be applied to measured values if wide apertures in the scattering cell and or strong guiding magnetic fields are used. We show, with the help of the modified effective range theory, that the data from Trento and those of Sueoka (1988) would agree well with those of Sueoka et al. (2000) if the data from Sueoka et al. (2000) were artificially low, as a result of the big angular resolution error due to the experimental conditions present in Sueoka et al. (2000). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.