Stereodynamical effects by anisotropic intermolecular forces

Alignment and/or orientation of molecules (i.e. non-statistical spatial distributions of their rotational angular momenta, their molecular axes and/or their molecular planes) can be naturally induced during two body collisions in gas phase. The nature and strength of the intermolecular forces involved, and their anisotropies govern the collision dynamics and a deep understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying collisional alignment/ orientation is crucial to control the stereodynamics of elementary chemical-physical processes. By using different experimental techniques and theoretical methodologies the effect of polarization on elementary processes involving neutral and ionic species are presented and discussed for both weakly and strongly interacting systems.