English

Spin currents in thermodynamic equilibrium?

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

The standard definition of a spin current, applied to the conductors lacking inversion symmetry, results in nonzero spin currents. I demonstrate that the spin currents do not vanish even in the thermodynamic equilibrium, in the absence of external fields. These currents are dissipationless and are not associated with a real spin transport. The result should be taken as a warning indicating problems inherent in the theory of transport spin currents driven by external fields.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0311110,
  title  = {Spin currents in thermodynamic equilibrium?},
  author = {Emmanuel I. Rashba},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0311110},
  year   = {2007}
}

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3 pages