Abstract This article is divided into three parts, the first of which contains an introduction to the concept of an internal magnetic field and in particular to the hyperfine field. The detailed origin of this internal field is outlined in Section 2, where its dependence on electronic structure is emphasized. By means of typical examples of hyperfine fields from both the iron group and the rare earth group of transition elements, Section 3 illustrates the way in which internal field measurement is applied (a) to further our understanding of electronic structure in magnetic materials and (b) as an aid to the understanding of the statistical theories of magnetism.
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