  We characterize zero-temperature dipolar Bose gases under external spherical
confinement as a function of the dipole strength using the essentially exact
many-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) technique. We show that the DMC energies
are reproduced accurately within a mean-field framework if the variation of the
s-wave scattering length with the dipole strength is accounted for properly.
Our calculations suggest stability diagrams and collapse mechanisms of dipolar
Bose gases that differ significantly from those previously proposed in the
literature.
