Landau diamagnetism revisited

TL;DR

This paper revisits Landau diamagnetism, exploring its quantum nature, boundary effects, and the quantum-classical transition, revealing a novel link between magnetic moments and electrical resistivity.

Contribution

It establishes a new connection between the thermodynamic orbital magnetic moment and electrical resistivity, providing insights into quantum-classical crossover in diamagnetism.

Findings

Link between orbital magnetic moment and resistivity

Insights into quantum-classical transition

Reevaluation of boundary and dissipation effects

Abstract

The problem of diamagnetism, solved by Landau, continues to pose fascinating issues which have relevance even today. These issues relate to inherent quantum nature of the problem, the role of boundary and dissipation, the meaning of thermodynamic limits, and above all, the quantum-classical crossover occasioned by environment-induced decoherence. The Landau Diamagnetism provides a unique paradigm for discussing these issues, the significance of which are far-reaching. Our central result is a remarkable one as it connects the mean orbital magnetic moment, a thermodynamic property, with the electrical resistivity, which characterizes transport properties of materials.