Low-energy positron scattering from DNA nucleobases: the effects from permanent dipoles

Ab initio quantum calculations for low-energy positron scattering from gas-phase isolated molecular nucleobases which are part of the DNA structure are presented and discussed over the range of 1 eV to 25 eV. The calculations report the integral cross sections (ICSs) and the momentum-transfer cross sections (MTCSs) for Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine. The calculations show very clearly the important role of the dominant long-range interaction between the positron projectile and the permanent dipole-moments of the target molecules in deciding the relative sizes of the ICSs and MTCSs for the present series of molecules. Such results confirm the largely repulsive interaction between positron and DNA bases, which is nevertheless producing very large cross sections and marked deflection functions from the latter molecules.