2005/07/07 by Jian Wang, Baigeng Wang, Wang, Jian +5
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0507159
openalex publication_date 2005/07/07 · arxiv created 2006/02/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The conventional definition of spin-current, namely spin density multiplied by the group velocity, is not a conserved quantity due to possible spin rotations caused by spin-orbit (SO) interaction. However, in a model with spin-spin interactions, rotation of a spin causes a dynamic response of surrounding spins that opposes the rotation. Such a many-body effect restores the spin-current conservation. Here we prove that the non-conservation problem of spin-current can be resolved if a self-consistent spin-spin interaction is included in the analysis. We further derive a spin-conductance formula which partitions spin-current into different leads of a multi-lead conductor.