# Electric dipoles vs. magnetic dipoles - for two molecules in a harmonic trap

## TL;DR

This paper compares electric and magnetic dipole interactions in two heteronuclear molecules within a harmonic trap, highlighting the limited influence of dipolar forces on ground states but noting anticrossings in excited states.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of electric dipole effects in molecular systems and contrasts these with magnetic dipole interactions, emphasizing the role of rotational energy.

## Key findings

- Dipolar forces are negligible in the ground state under typical conditions.
- Excited states show anticrossings similar to magnetic dipoles.
- Rotational energy dominates over dipolar interaction energy.

## Abstract

We study energy levels of two heteronuclear molecules moving in a spherically symmetric harmonic trap. A role of electric dipole interactions is compared and contrasted with our earlier results (https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.00631) for two magnetic dipolar atoms. We stress importance of a rotational energy with its value which is very high compared to the energy of dipolar interaction. We show that dipolar forces do not play a significant role in the ground state of the system under typical experimental conditions. However, there exist excited states that exhibit anticrossings similar to the ones observed for magnetic dipoles.