Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-condensed-matter-field-theory-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/3/f/solution

The constant term in the spin sum cancels. Linearizing the saddle point equation gives
The paramagnetic auxiliary-field curvature is
Consequently the Stoner criterion for the loss of local paramagnetic stability is
The printed uses energy measured from the Fermi level. For a smooth density of states, becomes a narrow unit-area peak at ; a singular density of states or appreciable temperature requires the integral form. The curvature establishes local instability, not the order or location of every possible thermodynamic transition.
With exact spin-rotation symmetry, itinerant ferromagnetism selects a magnetization direction. The two broken transverse generators form one quadratic type-B Goldstone boson, a long-wave ferromagnetic magnon with . Longitudinal amplitude motion is not symmetry-protected to be gapless. In a metallic ordered state, particle-hole excitations remain near each surviving exchange-split Fermi surface; these are distinct from the collective magnon. The itinerant spin-flip particle-hole continuum starts at exchange scale at in this simple mean-field spectrum, while its finite- boundaries differ. Spin anisotropy, spin-orbit coupling or an external field can gap the transverse mode; none is present in the stated model.

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