Single ionization of argon by 195-eV electron impact is studied in an experiment, where the absolute triple-differential cross sections are presented as three-dimensional electron emission images for a series of kinematic conditions. Thereby a comprehensive set of experimental data for electron-impact ionization of a many-electron system is produced to provide a benchmark for comparison with theoretical predictions. Theoretical models using a hybrid first-order and second-order distorted-wave Born plus $R$-matrix approach are employed to compare their predictions with the experimental data. While the relative shape of the calculated cross section is generally in reasonable agreement with experiment, the magnitude appears to be the most significant problem with the theoretical treatment for the conditions studied in the present work. This suggests that the most significant challenge in the further development of theory for this process may lie in the reproduction of the absolute scale rather than the angular dependence of the cross section.

• Received 8 April 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.83.052714