title: Communications: When diffraction rules the stereodynamics of rotationally inelastic collisions.
abstract: Following upon our recent work on vector correlations in the Ar-NO collisions [Lemeshko and Friedrich, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 1038 (2010)], we compare model results with close-coupling calculations for a range of channels and collision energies for the He-NO system. The striking agreement between the model and exact polarization moments indicates that the stereodynamics of rotationally inelastic atom-molecule collisions at thermal energies is governed by diffraction of matter waves from a two-dimensional repulsive core of the atom-molecule potential. Furthermore, the model polarization moments characterizing the He-NO, He-O(2), He-OH, and He-CaH stereodynamics are found to coalesce into a single, distinctive pattern, which can serve as a "fingerprint" to identify diffraction-driven stereodynamics in future work.
authors.affiliation: Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, Berlin D-14195, Germany. mikhail.lemeshko@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lemeshko
authors.forename: Pablo G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Jambrina
authors.forename: Marcelo P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: de Miranda
authors.forename: Bretislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Friedrich