Search for low-lying resonances in electron scattering by atomic hydrogen

Measurements of the transmission of an energy-selected electron beam through atomic hydrogen fail to indicate any resonance below 9·5-eV electron energy. The negative result contradicts recent suggestions by Rudkjøbing and by Van Rensbergenthat some diffuse interstellar absorption bands might be attributable to preionizing transitions in the hydrogen negative ion. A bulk of reliable theoretical data, however, justifies our finding.