Rotational excitations of hydrogen molecules by slow muonic atoms

A computational scheme based on the infinite-order sudden approximation (IO S) is proposed for treating molecular and screening effects in muonic atoms scattering at low energies. With this scheme the differential cross sectio ns (d sigma/d Omega)(epsilon,j <-- 0/theta) and the total cross sections si gma(tot) (epsilon) for the scattering of the muonic atoms on molecules of h ydrogen isotopes are calculated at energies epsilon(rot) = (h) over bar ome ga(I) less than or equal to epsilon less than or equal to epsilon(vib) = (h ) over bar omega(v). The IOS permits a quantitative analysis of the depende nce of the differential cross sections on the scattering angle and on the r otational excitations, particularly of the rotational rainbow effects. An a ttractive feature of this approach is that the energy and angular dependenc ies are included in the ''input'' cross sections for the scattering of the muonic atom on the bare nuclei of the molecule.