Abstract. We report measurements of differential cross sections for optical collisions of Li atoms with He and Ne atoms and H₂ and D₂ molecules. Oscillatory structures are observed in all cases. For the atomic targets, we find a very good agreement with theoretical results based on close-coupling scattering calculations and recent quantum chemical data, and we derive estimates for the accuracy of the calculated potentials. For the molecular targets, calculations using the rotational sudden approach yield a good agreement with the experiment.

Print publication: Issue 1 (14 January 2005)
Received 8 October 2004, in final form 17 November 2004
Published 20 December 2004