Physics World: Collisions between dipolar molecules switch off at low energies

Researchers in the Netherlands have shown that they can turn off the dipole moment of molecules that are normally polar, drastically altering the molecules’ behaviour in low-energy collisions. The discovery – which was only possible after the team cleared a major experimental hurdle – has implications for ultracold chemistry and could also lead to a better understanding of polarity, with benefits for quantum simulation and computation.