Induced Atom Gathering

[MagicChemist]

Hi I was just wondering if it was possible to make atoms of an element or multiple elements to be attracted and gather together in one place in an open environment? Like would one be able to make Helium atoms gather in a center of a room due to an artificial attraction to the area you want them to be positioned in?

[swansont]

There are methods of grouping atoms in traps. You can do this with lasers and magnetic fields (magneto-optical traps, or MOTs), there are magnetic traps (which are very shallow) and there are optical lattice and dipole force traps, which confine atoms using polarization or intensity gradients, respectively.

 

You can also tune the attraction of some trapped atoms with something called a Feshbach resonance, which can be tuned with an external magnetic field.

 

All of this in done in vacuum systems, since scattering from atoms at atmospheric pressure would overwhelm

[John Cuthber]

Hi I was just wondering if it was possible to make atoms of an element or multiple elements to be attracted and gather together in one place in an open environment? Like would one be able to make Helium atoms gather in a center of a room due to an artificial attraction to the area you want them to be positioned in?

In practical terms, no, you can't.

[Enthalpy]

Gather in an open environment: this is called a liquid or a solid.

But with helium, it's damned hard. Worse, solid helium needs a minimum pressure, whatever the low temperature.

Then, if willing to float the solid in the room, more tricks are requested.