If one tries to predict the probability of collision with a classical model that treats the electron and atom as hard spheres, one finds that the probability of collision should be independent of the incident electron energy. However, Ramsauer and Townsend, independently observed that for slow-moving electrons in argon, krypton, or xenon, the probability of collision between the electrons and gas atoms obtains a minimum value for electrons with a certain amount of kinetic energy (about 1 electron volts for xenon gas). 
No good explanation for the phenomenon existed until the introduction of quantum mechanics, which explains that the effect results from the wave-like properties of the electron. A simple model of the collision that makes use of wave theory can predict the existence of the Ramsauer–Townsend minimum. Niels Bohr presented a simple model for the phenomenon that considers the atom as a finite square potential well.
Predicting from theory the kinetic energy that will produce a Ramsauer–Townsend minimum is quite complicated since the problem involves understanding the wave nature of particles. However, the problem has been extensively investigated both experimentally and theoretically and is well understood.