Distorted-wave—Born-approximation study of angular distributions for state-to-state rearrangement collisions: Role of orbital angular momentum

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Abstract
The structures of product angular distributions for the state-to-state rearrangement collision of an atom — diatomic-molecule system are examined as a function of the orbital (relative) angular momentum and incident kinetic energy. It is found that a coordinated study of the kernel- and radial-overlap distribution is useful for understanding the predicted structures of the angular distributions of the scattered product. The cause of both backward and sideways scattering are explainable from such study. Broadening of the angular distributions in the case of backward scattering is found to occur due to the increased number of partial waves which overlap with the kernel distribution. In addition, we find that the shift of the peak position or the change from the backward to sideways scattering at increased kinetic energies is due to the enhanced radial overlap between the kernel function and partial waves of larger orbital angular momentum.