Emergent Magnetism as a Cooperative Effect of Interactions and Reservoir

Abstract

Closed shell molecular structures are under normal conditions time-reversal invariant. Experimental evidence points, however, toward that this invariance may be locally violated when the structure is in contact with a particle reservoir. The mechanisms behind such local symmetry breaking are not clear by any means. By considering a minimal model for a closed shell structure, here we propose that the symmetry breaking may result from a combination of internal and/or external interactions. It is shown that a magnetic moment of a localized electron level can be generated and maintained under the influence of such a combination. The theoretical results should cast new light on the mechanisms that may form magnetic properties in molecular compounds.