Parallel computation of electron molecule collisions

The study of collisions between electrons and molecules is an old field, almost as old as the discovery of the electron itself. Yet it has never been a large field; indeed, if we confine our interest (as we do here) to low-energy collisions, only a handful of research groups, experimental or theoretical, are active throughout the world today. It might therefore be appropriate to begin with two questions: Why study such collisions at all? And why is so little research being done?