Density-operator theory of orbital magnetic susceptibility in periodic insulators

Abstract

The theoretical treatment of homogeneous static magnetic fields in periodic systems is challenging, as the corresponding vector potential breaks the translational invariance of the Hamiltonian. Based on density operators and perturbation theory, we propose, for insulators, a periodic framework for the treatment of magnetic fields up to arbitrary order of perturbation, similar to widely used schemes for electric fields. The second-order term delivers a new, remarkably simple, formulation of the macroscopic orbital magnetic susceptibility for periodic insulators. We validate the latter expression using a tight-binding model, analytically from the present theory and numerically from the large-size limit of a finite cluster, with excellent numerical agreement.

5 pages including 2 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (3)

• Orbital magnetization in periodic insulators
• Quantum Theory of Orbital Magnetization and its Generalization to Interacting Systems
• Spin and orbital magnetic response in metals: susceptibility and NMR shifts

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