Mesoscopic fluctuations of the ground state spin of a small metal particle

P. W. Brouwer, Yuval Oreg, B. I. Halperin

Published 1999-07-09Version 1

We study the statistical distribution of the ground state spin for an ensemble of small metallic grains, using a random-matrix toy model. Using the Hartree Fock approximation, we find that already for interaction strengths well below the Stoner criterion there is an appreciable probability that the ground state has a finite, nonzero spin. Possible relations to experiments are discussed.