Matter in superstrong magnetic fields

Abstract

The behaviour of condensed matter in superstrong magnetic fields of the order of 1012–1015 G is investigated, i.e., binding energies of atoms in condensed matter are calculated by a variational method. The cohesive energy, i.e., the difference between the binding energies of free atoms and of atoms in condensed matter, is also calculated, and results are obtained for hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron atoms.For a magnetic field of 1012 G, we obtain binding energies for atoms in condensed matter of 0.2 keV for hydrogen, 0.7 keV for helium, 4.5 keV for carbon, 7.4 keV for oxygen, 20.0 keV for silicon, and 59.0 keV for iron. For a magnetic field of 1014 G, we get corresponding binding energies of 1.2 keV for hydrogen, 3.9 keV for helium, 27.0 keV for carbon, 44.9 keV for oxygen, 121.5 keV for silicon, and 366 keV for iron. For a magnetic field of 1012 G, we obtain cohesive energies of 0.04 keV for hydrogen, 0.10 keV for helium, 0.36 keV for carbon, 0.51 keV for oxygen, 1.4 keV for silicon, and 2.8 keV for iron. For a magnetic field of 1014 G, we get corresponding cohesive energies of 0.16 keV for hydrogen, 0.40 keV for helium, 1.9 keV for carbon, 3.0 keV for oxygen, 7.3 keV for silicon, and 19.4 keV for iron.