Quantum scattering calculations for strongly interacting molecular systems are computationally demanding due to the large number of molecular states coupled by the anisotropy of atom-molecule interactions. We demonstrate that thermal rate coefficients for total (elastic $+$ inelastic) atom-molecule scattering are insensitive to the interaction anisotropy of the underlying potential energy surface. In particular, we show that the rate coefficients for ${\text{Rb-H}}_2$ and ${\text{Rb-N}}_2$ scattering at room temperature can be computed to 1% accuracy with anisotropy set to zero, reducing the complexity of coupled-channels quantum scattering calculations to numerical solutions of a single differential equation. Our numerical calculations and statistical analysis based on Gaussian process regression elucidate the origin and limitations of the invariance of the total scattering rate coefficients to changes in atom-molecule interaction anisotropy.

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• Interatomic & molecular potentials
• Scattering of atoms, molecules, clusters & ions
• Scattering theory