Abstract
Scattering of ruby laser radiation on cold, dense hydrogen plasmas (1.5 eV≤Te≤4 eV, 3.5×1017 cm−3≤Ne≤2×1018 cm−3) shows, in addition to the Thomson component, a contribution of light which is scattered by excited hydrogen atoms on the wing of the Hα transition. This Rayleigh component is compared with a theoretical model based on the assumption that the n=2 level is in partial local thermodynamic equilibrium with the continuum.