Orbiting Resonances in the Scattering of H Atoms by Mercury at Thermal Energies

Abstract

The energy dependence of the integral elastic-collision cross section for scattering of hydrogen and deuterium atoms by mercury at thermal energies has been measured. For hydrogen at ca. 1.4 × ${10}^5$ cm ${\sec }^{-1\mathrm{}}$ evidence has been found for a structure superimposed on the glory pattern. This can be attributed to two overlapping orbiting resonances and represents the first observation of quasibound vibrational-rotational levels of a diatomic molecule through scattering measurements.