Molecules on a string

Over recent decades, atomic and molecular physics has blossomed, with much of the work springing from new techniques to translationally manipulate—especially to slow and trap—gaseous atoms and molecules. The ensuing study of slow (cold) atoms and molecules has led researchers into uncharted territories—not just of atomic and molecular physics, but of physics and even chemistry at large. Achieving manipulation on the atomic or molecular level requires some hook by which a magnetic or electric field can seize the atoms or molecules. The role of such a hook is played by the magnetic or electric dipole moment, whose magnitude determines how strong the pull of a given field will be.