SUPERSYMMETRY AND THE BINDING OF A MAGNETIC ATOM TO A FILAMENTARY CURRENT (VOL 74, PG 3138, 1995)

We suggest the binding of neutral atoms to a current carrying wire thr ough the interaction between the atomic magnetic dipole moment and the wire's magnetic field. The theoretical description is based upon an e xtension of the concept of supersymmetry to multicomponent wave functi ons. A solution for spin 1/2 particles is obtained directly in coordin ate space. Spin 1 particles are considered as well. Experimentally, th e system should be immediately realizable for 25 mu K sodium atoms aro und a wire with a diameter of 0.5 mu m and a current of 400 mu A.