ELASTIC SCATTERING OF SLOW POSITRONS BY ATOMS M.Ya.Amusia*#, N.A.Cherepkov+ and L.V.Chernysheva* *A.F.Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021 St.Petersburg, Russia #The Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel +State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, 190000 St.Petersburg, Russia The elastic scattering cross section of slow positrons on some closed shell and alkali atoms is calculated in the simplified version of the random phase approximation with semi-quantitative account of the virtual positronium formation. The results of calculations are compared with the experimental measurements where available.