Classical scattering in strongly attractive potentials

Abstract: Scattering in central attractive potentials is investigated systematically, in the limit of strong interaction, when large-angles scattering dominates. In particular, three important model interactions (Lennard-Jones, Yukawa, and exponential), which are qualitatively different from each other, are studied in detail. It is shown that for each of these interactions the dependence of the scattering angle on the properly normalized impact parameter exhibits a quasi-universal behavior. This implies simple scaling of the transport cross sections with energy in the considered limit. Accurate fits for the momentum transfer cross section are suggested. Applications of the obtained results are discussed.