Anisotropic Nature of Work Function in Strong Quantizing Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how ultra-strong magnetic fields cause anisotropic changes in the work function for electron emission from metallic crystals, revealing that the longitudinal component increases with magnetic field strength while the transverse component diverges.

Contribution

It introduces a relativistic Thomas-Fermi model to analyze the anisotropic behavior of the work function under strong magnetic fields in astrophysical contexts.

Findings

Longitudinal work function increases with magnetic field strength.

Transverse work function diverges under strong magnetic fields.

Work function becomes anisotropic in the presence of strong magnetic fields.

Abstract

Following an extremely interesting idea \cite{R1}, published long ago, the work function associated with the emission of ultra-relativistic electrons from magnetically deformed metallic crystal of astrophysical relevance is obtained using relativistic version of Thomas-Fermi type model. In the present scenario, surprisingly, the work function becomes anisotropic; the longitudinal part is an increasing function of magnetic field strength, whereas the transverse part diverges.