= Magnetic trapping of neutral atoms
A neutral <chemical atom> with a <magnetic dipole moment> can experience a force in a nonuniform <magnetic field>, despite having zero net <electric charge>. For an internal state that follows the local field adiabatically, its position-dependent Zeeman <energy> supplies an effective trapping <potential energy>.
A low-field-seeking state has increasing energy with field magnitude and can be confined near a field minimum. The atom must retain the trapped internal state: rapid changes of field direction or a vanishing splitting can permit transitions to untrapped states. The trap therefore selects both spatial motion and internal <spin> character. In atom-correlation experiments, releasing this trapped population provides a controlled source for <time-of-flight atom detection>.
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