SEMICLASSICAL RORONIC DESCRIPTION OF RIGHT-LEFT SCATTERING ASYMMETRY OF HELICOPTER-ORIENTED ATOMS

We present a semiclassical description of left-right scattering asymmetry of helicopter-oriented atoms on the basis of roronic correlation diagrams. The conservation of the total angular momentum and total parity is explicitly taken into account. The asymmetry is due to different populations of electronic states of the diatom which is related to a non-sudden nature of the locking of the electronic angular momentum to the rotating molecular axis. The theory is applied to measurements of differential cross sections for the scattering of oriented alkali atoms from rare gas atoms, and the experimental results are understood in a new light in terms of the basics of the interaction.