Instability in magnetic materials with a dynamical axion field

Hirosi Ooguri1, Masaki Oshikawa

  • 1California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.

Summary

Axion electrodynamics shows instability with electric fields. This instability screens electric fields and converts energy into magnetic fields, potentially observable in magnetic materials.

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes01:23

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis,  the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis. This...
Magnetic Damping01:17

Magnetic Damping

Eddy currents can produce significant drag on motion, called magnetic damping. For instance, when a metallic pendulum bob swings between the poles of a strong magnet, significant drag acts on the bob as it enters and leaves the field, quickly damping the motion.
If, however, the bob is a slotted metal plate, the magnet produces a much smaller effect. When a slotted metal plate enters the field, an emf is induced by the change in flux; however, it is less effective because the slots limit the...
Diamagnetism01:26

Diamagnetism

Materials consisting of paired electrons have zero net magnetic moments. However, when these materials are placed under an external magnetic field, the moments opposite to the field are induced. Such materials are called diamagnets. Diamagnetism is the response of the diamagnets when placed in an external magnetic field.
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets.
Magnetic Fields01:27

Magnetic Fields

A moving charge or a current creates a magnetic field in the surrounding space, in addition to its electric field. The magnetic field exerts a force on any other moving charge or current that is present in the field. Like an electric field, the magnetic field is also a vector field. At any position, the direction of the magnetic field is defined as the direction in which the north pole of a compass needle points.
A magnetic field is defined by the force that a charged particle experiences...
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions01:28

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...
Paramagnetism01:30

Paramagnetism

Paramagnets are materials with unpaired electrons that possess a finite magnetic moment. In the absence of a magnetic field, these moments are randomly oriented, and thus the net moment is zero. Under an external field, a torque acting on the moments tends to align them along the field's direction. However, the random thermal motion of electrons produces a torque opposite to the external field and tries to disorient the moments. These two competing effects align only a few moments along the...