Senftleben–Beenakker effect

The Senftleben–Beenakker effect is the dependence on a magnetic or electric field of transport properties (such as viscosity and heat conductivity) of polyatomic gases. The effect is caused by the precession of the (magnetic or electric) dipole of the gas molecules between collisions. The resulting rotation of the molecule averages out the nonspherical part of the collision cross-section, if the field is large enough that the precession time is short compared to the time between collisions (this requires a very dilute gas). The change in the collision cross-section, in turn, can be measured as a change in the transport properties.