Symmetry properties of intra-atomic spin and angular momentum densities: application to

Abstract

We consider the formation of the atomic spin and orbital moments in the framework of the local spin-density functional approximation by examining and exhibiting the symmetry properties of the intra-atomic spin and angular momentum densities, focusing on general principles, and elaborating by means of the realistic example of which is a noncollinear ferromagnet. We expose the role of the symmetry properties in determining the intra-atomic noncollinearity of the spin and orbital moments, which we connect with the inter-atomic configurations of the atomic moments.