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Condensed-matter physics

Return of the itinerant electron

Nature volume 397, pages 386–387 (1999)Cite this article

On page 412 of this issue, Young et al.1 demonstrate magnetic polarization in a dilute, three-dimensional electron gas at a temperature of 600 K. Years of theoretical debate connect this intriguing result to a long-sought mechanism for ferromagnetism in metals first conjectured by Bloch2, who suspected that the ‘electron gas’ is susceptible to magnetic ordering at low density.

In 1929, Bloch noticed that within the ‘Hartree-Fock’ approximation (that is, assuming the electrons are in independent states), the spins of the electrons spontaneously align, and he suggested this as an explanation of ferromagnetism. This spin polarization should happen at a density just lower than that found in some alkali metals, such as potassium, rubidium or caesium. But at these densities one cannot ignore the fact that electrons move in a correlated way. In the Stoner model4 introduced in the 1930s, the electron-electron Coulomb interaction is replaced by a constant repulsive energy between opposite spin electrons, to account for this correlation. The spins only partially polarize and they do so at a lower density. Many theorists have concluded from this and other calculations that the electron gas would never be ferromagnetic5. Calculations at an intermediate density are difficult because very small energy differences are important and any approximation has to treat the various ‘phases’ of the gas with equal accuracy.

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Figure 1: Phase diagram of the electron gas.
Figure 2: Crystal structure of CaB6.

References

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  3. Wigner, E. P. Phys. Rev. 46, 1002–1011 (1934).

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  5. Herring, C. in Magnetism Vol. IV (eds Rado, G. T. & Suhl, H.) 9-31; 71-80(Academic, San Diego, 1966).

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  1. The Department of Physics and NCSA at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 61821, Illinois, USA

    David Ceperley

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  1. David Ceperley
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Ceperley, D. Return of the itinerant electron. Nature 397, 386–387 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17011

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