  We examine the momentum and energy dependence of the scattering rate of the
high temperature cuprate superconductors using angle resolved photoemission
spectroscopy. The scattering rate is of the form a + b*w. The inelastic
coefficient b is found to be isotropic. The elastic term, a, however, is found
to be highly anisotropic in the pseudogap phase of optimal doped samples, with
an anisotropy which correlates with that of the pseudogap. This can be
contrasted with heavily overdoped samples, which show an isotropic scattering
rate in the normal state.
