The interaction of two atoms, molecules, or nuclei by means of their electric or magnetic dipole moments. This is the first term of the multipole-multipole series of invariants. More precisely, the interaction occurs when one dipole is placed in the field of another dipole. The interaction energy depends on the strength and relative orientation of the two dipoles, as well as on the distance between the centers and the orientation of the radius vector connecting the centers with respect to the dipole vectors. The electric dipole-dipole interaction and magnetic dipole-dipole interaction must be distinguished.