Quasielastic scattering

In physics, quasielastic scattering designates a limiting case of inelastic scattering, characterized by energy transfers being small compared to the incident energy of the scattered particles.

The term was originally coined in nuclear physics.^[1]

It was applied to thermal neutron scattering by Leon van Hove^[2] and Pierre Gilles de Gennes^[3] (quasielastic neutron scattering, QENS).

Finally, it is sometimes used for dynamic light scattering (also known by the more expressive term photon correlation spectroscopy).