On the total magnetic moment of large atoms in strong magnetic fields (Q1599578)

The total magnetic moment of heavy neutral atoms in large magnetic fields is studied. The term 'large' means that the magnetic field is too strong for the ordinary Zeeman theory of the magnetic moment of the atom to be valid. A number of approximating density-type theories for the considered systems were studied earlier [see \textit{E. Lieb, J. Solovej} and \textit{J. Yngvason}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 47, 513-591 (1994; Zbl 0800.49041)]. The list of these systems comprises magnetic Thomas-Fermi (MTF) theory, strong Thomas-Fermi (STF) theory, density matrix (DM) theory, discrete density matrix (DDM) theory, super-strong magnetic field density functional (SS). All the theories provide asymptotic formulas for the energy with high precision in different regions depending on how large the nuclear charge is compared to the magnetic field strength. It is proven in the paper that these theories give also correct highest-order predictions for the total magnetic moment. The proof is based on the magnetic virial theorem.