Spontaneous Magnetization and Electron Momentum Density in 3D Quantum Dots

TL;DR

This paper presents an exactly solvable model for interacting electrons in 3D quantum dots, revealing oscillations in spin polarization and their signatures in electron momentum density, suggesting new experimental detection methods.

Contribution

It introduces a solvable model for electron interactions in quantum dots and links spin polarization oscillations to measurable momentum density signatures.

Findings

Oscillations in spin polarization with dot radius.

Characteristic signatures in electron momentum density.

Potential for experimental detection of magnetization.

Abstract

We discuss an exactly solvable model Hamiltonian for describing the interacting electron gas in a quantum dot. Results for a spherical square well confining potential are presented. The ground state is found to exhibit striking oscillations in spin polarization with dot radius at a fixed electron density. These oscillations are shown to induce characteristic signatures in the momentum density of the electron gas, providing a novel route for direct experimental observation of the dot magnetization via spectroscopies sensitive to the electron momentum density.