Magnetic moment of electrons in systems with spin-orbit coupling

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ado, I. A., Titov, M., Duine, Rembert A., Brataas, Arne
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908949959147520
author Ado, I. A.
Titov, M.
Duine, Rembert A.
Brataas, Arne
author_facet Ado, I. A.
Titov, M.
Duine, Rembert A.
Brataas, Arne
contents Magnetic effects originating from spin-orbit coupling (SOC) have been attracting major attention. However, SOC contributions to the electron magnetic moment operator are conventionally disregarded. In this work, we analyze relativistic contributions to the latter operator, including those of the SOC-type: in vacuum, for the semiconductor 8 band Kane model, and for an arbitrary system with two spectral branches. In this endeavor, we introduce a notion of relativistic corrections to the operation $\partial/\partial\boldsymbol B$, where $\boldsymbol B$ is an external magnetic field. We highlight the difference between the magnetic moment and $-\partial H/\partial\boldsymbol B$, where $H$ is the system Hamiltonian. We suggest to call this difference the abnormal magnetic moment. We demonstrate that the conventional decomposition of the total magnetic moment into the spin and orbital parts becomes ambiguous when relativistic corrections are taken into account. The latter also jeopardize the "modern theory of orbital magnetization" in its standard formulation. We derive a linear response Kubo formula for the kinetic magnetoelectric effect projected to individual branches of a two branch system. This allows us, in particular, to identify a source of this effect that stems from noncommutation of the position and $\partial/\partial\boldsymbol B$ operators' components. This is an analog of the contribution to the Hall conductivity from noncommuting components of the position operator. We comment on the relation between such contributions and the Berry curvature theory. We also report several additional observations related to the electron magnetic moment operator in systems with SOC and other relativistic corrections.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_10956
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic moment of electrons in systems with spin-orbit coupling
Ado, I. A.
Titov, M.
Duine, Rembert A.
Brataas, Arne
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Magnetic effects originating from spin-orbit coupling (SOC) have been attracting major attention. However, SOC contributions to the electron magnetic moment operator are conventionally disregarded. In this work, we analyze relativistic contributions to the latter operator, including those of the SOC-type: in vacuum, for the semiconductor 8 band Kane model, and for an arbitrary system with two spectral branches. In this endeavor, we introduce a notion of relativistic corrections to the operation $\partial/\partial\boldsymbol B$, where $\boldsymbol B$ is an external magnetic field. We highlight the difference between the magnetic moment and $-\partial H/\partial\boldsymbol B$, where $H$ is the system Hamiltonian. We suggest to call this difference the abnormal magnetic moment. We demonstrate that the conventional decomposition of the total magnetic moment into the spin and orbital parts becomes ambiguous when relativistic corrections are taken into account. The latter also jeopardize the "modern theory of orbital magnetization" in its standard formulation. We derive a linear response Kubo formula for the kinetic magnetoelectric effect projected to individual branches of a two branch system. This allows us, in particular, to identify a source of this effect that stems from noncommutation of the position and $\partial/\partial\boldsymbol B$ operators' components. This is an analog of the contribution to the Hall conductivity from noncommuting components of the position operator. We comment on the relation between such contributions and the Berry curvature theory. We also report several additional observations related to the electron magnetic moment operator in systems with SOC and other relativistic corrections.
title Magnetic moment of electrons in systems with spin-orbit coupling
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10956