Translational light scattering in simple liquids

Summary A short review of translational light scattering of simple liquids is reported. The microscopic cross-section is compared with the equivalent expression for neutron scattering experiments (Van Hove, 1954). A survey of the fundamental experiments is reported and the possible application to the study of the dynamics of simple dense systems is analysed. The relevant approximations are critically discussed and the limits of the technique are established. The review mainly deals with classical or almost classical liquids, but also some extensions to quantum systems are considered. paper presented at the workshop ?Highlights on Simple Liquids?, held in Turin at ISI on 1–3 May 1989.