Spin polarization of light atoms in jellium: Detailed electronic structures

TL;DR

This paper investigates the spontaneous magnetization and electronic structure of sp impurity atoms in simple metals, revealing how spin polarization affects local charge distributions and depends on the atom's electron affinity.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of spin polarization effects in light atoms within jellium, highlighting the formation of spin and charge density waves and the influence of electron affinity.

Findings

Formation of spherical spin and charge density waves around impurities

Significant reduction in pseudoatom size in spin-polarized states

Electron affinity influences the transition to negative ion states

Abstract

We revisit the problem of the spontaneous magnetization of an {\em sp} impurity atom in a simple metal host. The main features of interest are: (i) Formation of the spherical spin density/charge density wave around the impurity; (ii) Considerable decrease in the size of the pseudoatom in the spin-polarized state as compared with the paramagnetic one, and (iii) Relevance of the electron affinity of the isolated atom to this spin polarization, which is clarified by tracing the transformation of the pseudoatom into an isolated negative ion in the low-density limit of the enveloping electron gas.