Exchange energy and generalized polarization in the presence of spin-orbit coupling in two dimensions

Abstract

We discuss a general form of the exchange energy for a homogeneous system of interacting electrons in two spatial dimensions which is particularly suited in the presence of a generic spin-orbit interaction. The theory is best formulated in terms of a generalized fractional electronic polarization. Remarkably we find that a net generalized polarization does not necessarily translate into an increase in the magnitude of the exchange energy, a fact that in turn favors unpolarized states. Our results account qualitatively for the findings of recent experimental investigations.

References in corpus (1)

• Anomalous Spin Polarization of GaAs Two-Dimensional Hole Systems

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Intrinsic magnetoresistance in metal films on ferromagnetic insulators
• Plasmon mass and Drude weight in strongly spin-orbit-coupled 2D electron gases
• Characterization of spin-orbit interactions of GaAs heavy holes using a quantum point contact
• A generalized Stoner criterion and versatile spin ordering in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled electron systems
• Understanding spin Hall effect in two-dimensional fermionic systems with generic spin-orbit interaction