H[over ¯]-Li scattering and enhanced H[over ¯] cooling

The s-wave elastic phase shifts and cross sections for the (H) over bar -Li system are predicted using an ab initio and nonadiabatic quantal method at very low energies. The smooth and monotonic change of the phase shifts with added eigenstates indicates that the leptonic potential for the present system has no barrier as noticed in the case of the (H) over bar -He system, or even a hump which is present in (H) over bar -H interaction. The very high value of the s-wave elastic cross section at zero or near zero energy implies that Li will be a more efficient buffer gas in cooling the antiatom to ultralow temperatures. This study may stimulate new experiments in thermalizing (H) over bar atom.