TY - JOUR AB - We present an analytic model of the refractive index for matter waves propagating through atomic or molecular gases. The model, which combines the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) treatment of the long-range attraction with the Fraunhofer model treatment of the short-range repulsion, furnishes a refractive index in compelling agreement with recent experiments of Jacquey [Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.98.240405 98, 240405 (2007)] on Li atom matter waves passing through dilute noble gases. We show that the diffractive contribution, which arises from scattering by a two-dimensional "hard core" of the potential, is essential for obtaining a correct imaginary part of the refractive index. AU - Mikhail Lemeshko AU - Friedrich, Břetislav ID - 2197 IS - 2 JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics TI - Multiple scattering of matter waves: An analytic model of the refractive index for atomic and molecular gases VL - 82 ER -