Long Range Magnetic Order and the Darwin Lagrangian

Abstract

We simulate a finite system of $N$ confined electrons with inclusion of the Darwin magnetic interaction in two- and three-dimensions. The lowest energy states are located using the steepest descent quenching adapted for velocity dependent potentials. Below a critical density the ground state is a static Wigner lattice. For supercritical density the ground state has a non-zero kinetic energy. The critical density decreases with $N$ for exponential confinement but not for harmonic confinement. The lowest energy state also depends on the confinement and dimension: an antiferromagnetic cluster forms for harmonic confinement in two dimensions.