Spontaneous Magnetization and Electron Momentum Density in 3D Quantum Dots

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.