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Spin-valve read-head noise limits the field-to-electrical response: sensitivity is a response relative to noise, not merely a large total resistance. A small free-layer volume gives larger thermally driven angular fluctuations and can lose magnetic stability when its anisotropy barrier is insufficient compared with $k_{B}T$. Edge damage, stray coupling to the reference layer, nonuniform domains and Barkhausen jumps cause hysteresis and noise. Johnson noise and low-frequency resistance noise compete with a limited GMR signal; raising sense current is restricted by heating and current-induced disturbance.

One useful design combines a single-domain, gently biased free layer with a flux-compensated synthetic-antiferromagnetic reference. This reduces reference stray fields, suppresses unstable domain switching and holds the free layer near a linear operating point. The active sensing width can remain small while magnetic and electrical design preserve adequate stability and signal. An alternative is a magnetic tunnel junction with an optimized barrier, giving a larger magnetoresistance signal; its resistance-area product, shot noise and barrier reliability still require optimization. Shrinking every magnetic dimension indefinitely is not a sensitivity improvement.

Sweep the in-plane magnetic field approximately along the wires' easy axes. At large negative field, both magnetizations are parallel. If the wires reverse at different positive coercive fields, an antiparallel interval separates this state from the final parallel positive-field state. In the usual positive giant magnetoresistance case, the antiparallel interval has higher resistance; the reverse sweep gives a mirrored interval and a hysteresis loop.

An ideal angular model isSpin-dependent injection and scattering favor transmission through similarly aligned electrodes. The two-current resistor model represents this using unequal majority- and minority-spin resistances. Both layers can reverse, hence pseudo spin valve, rather than an absolutely pinned reference layer.

The different thicknesses can produce different switching properties, but thickness alone does not identify which electrode reverses first. Measure their coercive fields. The local resistance also contains Cu, contact and Py anisotropic magnetoresistance contributions. Rotation scans and individual-wire controls distinguish them. Py/Cu experiments showed that local contact-related signals can exceed the spin-valve contribution, motivating nonlocal detection.^[ref]

Heat the bilayer into a window $T_N<T<T_c$, apply an in-plane magnetic field sufficient to align the ferromagnet, and cool through the antiferromagnet's ordering/blocking range while retaining the field. The ferromagnet supplies a preferred interfacial spin direction as the antiferromagnet orders. Sufficient antiferromagnetic anisotropy then pins part of the interfacial spin configuration, producing unidirectional magnetic anisotropy rather than merely uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the ferromagnet.

Measure a full major hysteresis loop after removing the cooling field, and compare with the isolated ferromagnet, a zero-field-cooled bilayer and the result of reversing the cooling-field direction. Those controls separate a true loop-centre shift from a changed coercive width, minor-loop artefacts or trapped applied field. The effect requires appropriate interfacial exchange and stable pinning; an ideally compensated or freely rotating interface need not produce a large bias. Exchange anisotropy in coupled ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic material was demonstrated in the classic experiment below.^[ref]

In paramagnetism, a material develops magnetization along a weak applied field, with positive susceptibility; in diamagnetism, it develops an induced moment opposing it, with negative susceptibility. In a simple localized-moment paramagnet, Zeeman alignment competes with thermal disorder. For independent two-state moments $\pm \mu$,when the field is weak and demagnetizing corrections are negligible. Stronger fields saturate the moment; interactions and conduction-electron Pauli paramagnetism can depart from this Curie law.

Ordinary diamagnetism comes from a field-induced change of orbital motion, including in closed-shell matter without permanent atomic moments. Its weak susceptibility is often nearly temperature independent away from a transition, and it contributes a background even when another magnetic response dominates. A nonuniform field tends to attract a paramagnetic specimen toward stronger field and repel a diamagnetic specimen in the weak linear regime. Calibrate the holder contribution and field gradient and measure a temperature/field series to distinguish induced response from retained magnetization. Ferromagnetic hysteresis and superconducting flux expulsion require different collective explanations.

The microscopic magnetic response becomes a macroscopic field problem through the magnetization $\mathbf{M}$, the magnetic dipole moment per unit volume. Definein magnetostatics. Bound currents are represented by ${\mathbf{J}}_b=\nabla \times \mathbf{M}$ and surface current ${\mathbf{K}}_b=\mathbf{M}\times \hat{\mathbf{n}}$. Normal $B$ is continuous across an interface, while $\hat{\mathbf{n}}\times ({\mathbf{H}}_2-{\mathbf{H}}_1)={\mathbf{K}}_{\mathrm{free}}$. It is generally incorrect to impose continuity of every component of both fields. A linear isotropic material has $\mathbf{M}=\chi \mathbf{H}$ and ${\mu }_r=1+\chi$, but a ferromagnet usually requires a nonlinear, history-dependent constitutive relation.

Internal field differs from externally applied field. For uniform magnetization along a principal axis of an ellipsoid, the demagnetizing field is $-N_{d}M$ and $H_{\mathrm{int}}=H_{\mathrm{applied}}-N_{d}M$. A linear specimen therefore has apparent susceptibility $\chi /(1+N_d\chi )$ relative to the applied field. Shape is especially important for large susceptibility. A long closed magnetic circuit reduces stray fields; a bar magnet still has demagnetizing fields despite the absence of magnetic monopoles. Equivalent magnetic-pole descriptions are bookkeeping for magnetization divergence, not free magnetic charge.^[ref]

In paramagnetism, permanent localized moments are preferentially aligned by the field, against thermal disorder. For independent spin-one-half moments with projections $\pm \mu$, the two Zeeman energies givein the dilute weak-field limit with $B\simeq {\mu }_{0}H$. This is a Curie law; the response saturates at $n\mu$ when alignment dominates. More generally, spin $J$ gives $\chi ={\mu }_{0}n(g{\mu }_B{)}^{2}J(J+1)/(3k_{B}T)$. Interactions can produce a Curie–Weiss response $C/(T-\Theta )$ over a suitable range. Conduction-electron Pauli paramagnetism need not show the localized-moment $1/T$ law.

In diamagnetism, the field induces a magnetic moment opposing it, so the linear susceptibility is negative. The microscopic cause is the change in orbital electronic motion, and a closed-shell insulating material has no permanent atomic moment to orient. This weak response is often only mildly temperature dependent away from other transitions. It also exists as a background in materials with a stronger positive response. Perfect flux expulsion in a superconductor is a distinct collective phenomenon and should not be identified with ordinary weak atomic diamagnetism.

In ferromagnetism, exchange interactions stabilize spontaneous magnetic order below the Curie temperature. A specimen can have zero net moment while its magnetic domains remain locally magnetized in different directions. Domain-wall motion and moment rotation produce a large response; anisotropy and pinning lead to remanence, coercivity and hysteresis. Increasing field eventually approaches saturation. Heating above the ordering transition removes spontaneous order, although an applied field still induces a response. Soft magnetic cores favor easy reversal and small cyclic loss; hard permanent-magnet materials favor retained magnetization and resistance to reversal. These properties concern collective order and barriers, not merely independent moments all following a weak field.^[ref]

A practical distinction requires a controlled field sweep and a separate magnetic readout. A toroidal core with drive winding $N_1$, path length $l$ and current $I$ has approximately $H=N_{1}I/l$. A pickup winding measures ${\mathcal{E}}_2=-N_{2}AdB/dt$; integrating after calibration gives $B$, and $M=B/{\mu }_0-H$. Reversing the sweep reveals a loop whose positive loss area per volume is $\oint HdB$. An air-core/empty-holder reference, known geometry and turn count, offset correction, temperature control and slower sweeps test background, heating and rate-dependent eddy-current losses. A single force or susceptibility reading cannot establish spontaneous order or hysteresis. The original curves below are illustrative responses, not measured material data.

Write magnetization as magnetic dipole moment per volume. In weak-field linear response, $\mathbf{M}=\chi \mathbf{H}$ and $\mathbf{B}={\mu }_0(\mathbf{H}+\mathbf{M})$.

Paramagnetism has positive susceptibility: permanent spin or orbital moments tend to align with a field against thermal disorder. Independent localized moments in the classical weak-field regime give $\chi \propto 1/T$, the Curie law. Conduction-electron Pauli paramagnetism has a different origin and need not follow that temperature law.

Diamagnetism is the induced magnetic response opposing the applied field, giving negative susceptibility. Changes in orbital motion underlie this response; it exists even without permanent moments. It is often relatively weak and only weakly temperature dependent, although particular quantum systems have stronger or more complicated behaviour.

Ferromagnetism arises from interactions favouring parallel magnetic order. Below the Curie temperature a domain can have spontaneous magnetization even at zero applied field. A sample can nevertheless have nearly zero net moment if differently oriented domains cancel. Domain rearrangement and rotation produce a nonlinear magnetization curve, saturation, remanence and coercivity; hysteresis dissipates energy in a field cycle. Above the ordering temperature the spontaneous order disappears, and a Curie-Weiss susceptibility is a useful mean-field approximation. The signs of weak-field susceptibility distinguish para- and diamagnetism; spontaneous order and domain dynamics distinguish ferromagnetism from independent-moment alignment.

A current in one circuit links magnetic flux through another. It produces magnetic flux linkage through another. With fixed geometry and a linear reciprocal medium, choose consistent winding orientations and writeThe shared coefficient is mutual inductance; reversal of one winding reverses its sign. Faraday's law of induction gives the mutual induced emf ${\mathcal{E}}_2=-M{\dot{I}}_1$ for fixed $M$. The minus sign expresses Lenz's law.

The magnetic energy isNonnegative energy for every current pair requires $|M|\le \sqrt{L_1{L}_2}$, motivating the coupling coefficient $M/\sqrt{L_1{L}_2}$. Transformers use strong common flux to exchange energy between circuits; leakage flux reduces coupling. A shared core increases linkage, but saturation, hysteresis and eddy-current losses limit the linear description. A moving geometry also contributes $-I_1\dot{M}$ to the mutual emf.

Magnetization $\mathbf{M}$ is magnetic dipole moment per unit volume. In SI units,in a linear isotropic response. The internal field matters: for a uniformly magnetized ellipsoid it is ${\mathbf{H}}_{\mathrm{int}}={\mathbf{H}}_{\mathrm{applied}}-{\mathbf{N}}_d\mathbf{M}$. Sample shape therefore affects an apparent magnetic susceptibility.

Diamagnetism opposes the applied field, giving small negative magnetic susceptibility from the induced orbital response. It is often only weakly temperature dependent. Paramagnetism aligns pre-existing moments and gives positive magnetic susceptibility; independent localized moments obey approximately $\chi =C/T$ in weak fields before saturating. Pauli paramagnetism of conduction electrons is a different, weakly temperature-dependent mechanism.

Ferromagnetism involves collective exchange-driven alignment and spontaneous magnetization below the Curie temperature. A specimen can nevertheless have nearly zero total moment because magnetic domains point in different directions. Field-driven domain-wall motion and rotation change the net magnetization. Antiferromagnets have compensating ordered sublattices below a Néel temperature; ferrimagnets have oppositely ordered but unequal sublattice moments and retain a net moment. Ferrites are useful examples of electrically resistive ferrimagnetic core materials.

Ferromagnetic response is nonlinear and history dependent. A hysteresis loop displays remanent magnetization, magnetic coercivity and saturation. A single constant magnetic permeability cannot describe the entire loop: differential magnetic permeability describes its local slope. The quasistatic energy loss per unit volume and cycle is the loop area $\oint HdB$. Soft magnetic materials have low magnetic coercivity and usually high useful magnetic permeability; hard magnetic materials retain magnetization and suit permanent magnets.

An electromagnet normally uses a soft, high-permeability core to guide flux generated by a coil. For a uniform-section core with length ${\ell }_c$ and air gap $g$, neglecting leakage and fringing,An air gap can dominate the magnetic reluctance even when the core magnetic permeability is large. Core saturation limits the improvement with current, while winding resistance causes heating. For alternating operation, laminations suppress eddy-current loops in metallic cores; high-resistivity ferrites also reduce those losses. Low hysteresis loss is important in repeatedly cycled cores, whereas high magnetic coercivity is valuable in a permanent magnet. Useful design therefore depends on the full magnetic response, electrical losses and operating frequency, rather than the largest quoted magnetic permeability alone.

Electromagnetic induction produces an electromotive force when magnetic flux linkage changes. For an oriented moving loop,For a stationary loop this reduces to Faraday's law of induction, $\nabla \times \mathbf{E}=-{\partial }_t\mathbf{B}$. Motion in a static field can instead supply the motional term. Lenz's law gives the minus sign: the induced electric current opposes the flux change, with the required electrical energy supplied by mechanical work or the field source.

For linear fixed-geometry circuits, flux linkages satisfy ${\Lambda }_1=L_1{I}_1+M{I}_2$ and ${\Lambda }_2=M{I}_1+L_2{I}_2$. Self-inductance gives ${\mathcal{E}}_1=-L_1{\dot{I}}_1$; mutual inductance gives the additional term $-M{\dot{I}}_2$. Reciprocity gives the same mutual coefficient for both circuits, with its sign determined by winding orientation. The stored field energy isThe bound follows from nonnegative energy for arbitrary electric currents. In a linear medium the equivalent field expression is $W_B=\frac{1}{2}\int \mathbf{B}\cdot \mathbf{H}dV$.

An ideal electrical transformer links both windings with one changing core flux, giving $V_1/V_2=N_1/N_2$ for corresponding voltage magnitudes. A loaded secondary drives an opposing magnetomotive force and increases primary electric current; ideally $I_1/I_2=N_2/N_1$ and input and output powers agree. A electrical transformer exchanges voltage for electric current, not for extra power. Real devices have winding resistance, leakage flux, eddy-current and hysteresis losses, and finite magnetizing electric current. A steady DC input gives no continuing secondary voltage after the switching transient and may cause excessive primary electric current or core saturation.

At an interface with unit normal $\hat{\mathbf{n}}$ pointing from medium 1 to medium 2, the magnetic boundary conditions areThe first follows from a pillbox applied to $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}=0$. The tangential magnetic field jump from a free surface current follows from a shrinking rectangular Ampère loop; ${\mathbf{K}}_f$ is the free surface current. With no free sheet current, normal $B$ and tangential $H$ are continuous. In linear isotropic media $\mathbf{B}=\mu \mathbf{H}$, so neither all components of $B$ nor all components of $H$ generally remain continuous.

For magnetic field-line refraction at a permeability interface, with angles measured from the normal, these conditions give $\tan {\theta }_2/\tan {\theta }_1={\mu }_2/{\mu }_1$. They determine the bending of magnetic flux at a material interface. In a slender core electromagnet, flux continuity and Ampère's law lead to the magnetic-circuit estimateAn air gap can dominate the reluctance even when the iron core has high magnetic permeability. Boundary conditions also determine demagnetizing fields; fringing, saturation and hysteresis limit the simple linear circuit model. A high-magnetic permeability material redirects flux, whereas a perfect-conductor boundary is a different physical assumption.^[ref]

An inductor stores magnetic energy and opposes changes of current through electromagnetic induction. For a fixed linear device, the flux linkage is $\Psi =N\Phi =LI$, the self-induced electromotive force is $-LdI/dt$, and the passive terminal voltage is $V=LdI/dt$. HenceThe voltage leads a sinusoidal current by a quarter cycle. A long solenoid has $B\simeq \mu NI/l$ and $L\simeq \mu N^{2}A/l$; its energy agrees with the volume integral of $B^2/(2\mu )$.

For two coupled coils, ${\Psi }_1=L_1{I}_1+\mathcal{M}{I}_2$, ${\Psi }_2=\mathcal{M}{I}_1+L_2{I}_2$, with signs set by coil orientations. Reciprocity gives the same mutual inductance in both equations. For the energy stored in a nonlinear inductor, $U=\int Id\Psi$ replaces the simple quadratic formula, and hysteresis can dissipate energy. Real coils also have resistance, core loss and parasitic capacitance, so an ideal inductance model has a finite useful frequency range.^[ref]

An electrical transformer transfers alternating electrical power between windings through a shared changing magnetic flux. A core with large magnetic permeability confines most of the flux, so both windings link approximately the same flux $\Phi (t)$. Faraday's law gives induced electromotive forcesFor an ideal electrical transformer, negligible winding resistance and leakage flux imply the terminal-voltage magnitude ratioThe relative phase depends on the winding sense and terminal convention. At a loaded secondary, Lenz's law makes the secondary current oppose the flux change. The primary draws an additional current which approximately cancels the secondary magnetomotive force: $N_p{I}_p\simeq N_s{I}_s$ in magnitude when the magnetizing current is negligible. Consequentlyfor a resistive load, using root mean square values. More generally the ideal device conserves instantaneous power, with the appropriate current signs. A load impedance $Z_L$ appears at the primary as $Z_{\mathrm{in}}=(N_p/N_s{)}^2{Z}_L$, enabling impedance matching and electrical isolation.

For sinusoidal flux, $\Phi ={\Phi }_{\max }\sin \omega t$ gives $V_{\mathrm{rms}}=\omega N{\Phi }_{\max }/\sqrt{2}$. At a given supply voltage, reducing frequency increases the required peak flux and can drive the core into magnetic saturation. Real losses include winding Joule heating, magnetic hysteresis, eddy currents and leakage flux; a laminated core suppresses eddy-current loops. A steady direct current produces no continuing secondary electromotive force, while its small winding resistance can allow a damaging primary current after switching transients.

Magnetization and field response. A magnetic material contains microscopic magnetic moments associated with electron spin and orbital motion. The magnetization $\mathbf{M}$ is magnetic dipole moment per unit volume. In SI the macroscopic fields satisfyHere $\mathbf{H}$ separates free-current excitation from the material response. A uniform isotropic linear material has $\mathbf{M}={\chi }_m\mathbf{H}$, givingThis constant scalar magnetic permeability model is useful only within its linear range. Crystals can have a susceptibility tensor; strongly magnetic materials depend on field and magnetic history. For a finite specimen the internal $\mathbf{H}$ also includes its demagnetizing field. In a uniformly magnetized ellipsoid, $H_{\mathrm{int}}=H_{\mathrm{applied}}-N_{d}M$ along a principal axis, so sample shape affects the apparent susceptibility.

Diamagnetic and paramagnetic response. Diamagnetism is a weak negative susceptibility caused by induced orbital response opposing the applied field. It occurs in all matter but can be masked by larger positive contributions. Closed-shell materials such as bismuth or many organic compounds show it clearly. Ordinary diamagnetism is often only weakly temperature dependent; superconducting flux exclusion is a separate collective phenomenon and is not described by an arbitrarily small negative susceptibility.

Paramagnetism arises when available magnetic moments partially align with a field. Thermal disorder prevents complete alignment at weak fields. For independent localized moments of magnitude $m$, the classical weak-field result iswhere the second expression uses $B\simeq {\mu }_{0}H$ in a weakly magnetic sample. Thus localized moments obey a Curie law in this regime. Quantum angular momentum changes the coefficient to the appropriate $J(J+1)$ expression and gives saturation at strong field. Conduction electrons instead exhibit Pauli paramagnetism: only states near the Fermi surface can change spin populations, so a degenerate gas has a nearly temperature-independent response. Its orbital diamagnetism must also be included for a full metallic susceptibility.

Collective magnetic order. Exchange interactions can favor parallel alignment, producing ferromagnetism below the Curie temperature. Iron, cobalt and nickel are familiar examples. A material may contain regions of spontaneous magnetization, or magnetic domains, while having little net external moment because the domains point in different directions. Applied fields move domain walls and rotate moments; at large fields the magnetization approaches saturation. Pinning and energy barriers make this process hysteretic. Remanence is the magnetization left after removing the driving field, and coercivity measures the reverse field needed to bring the chosen response back to zero.

The area of a closed $B$–$H$ loop is the energy dissipated per unit volume per quasistatic cycle, $\oint HdB$, with positive dissipated magnitude. Consequently the magnetic permeability is neither one universal constant nor enough information to describe a ferromagnet: differential magnetic permeability $dB/dH$, saturation and hysteresis all matter. Above the ordering temperature the spontaneous moment disappears, and a Curie–Weiss law is often an appropriate approximate paramagnetic description away from the critical region.

In antiferromagnetism, ordered opposing sublattices have equal moments and cancel macroscopically in the ideal compensated case. The order disappears above the Néel temperature. In ferrimagnetism, opposing sublattices have unequal moments and leave a net magnetization. Ferrites combine ferrimagnetic response with relatively high electrical resistivity, making them valuable when eddy-current losses would be substantial in a metallic core.

Electromagnets and engineering choice. A coil supplies free-current magnetomotive force $NI$. For a simple uniform magnetic path, Ampère's law gives $H\ell \simeq NI$ and flux $\Phi \simeq \mu ANI/\ell$. A high-magnetic permeability soft magnetic core concentrates flux and reduces the current required for a given field. With an air gap $g$,Even a short gap can dominate the magnetic reluctance. The approximate attractive force across one uniform gap is $F\simeq B^{2}A/(2{\mu }_0)$, obtained from the field energy, with fringing neglected.

Soft magnetic materials have small coercivity and narrow hysteresis loops; they suit relays, electrical transformer cores and controllable electromagnets. Hard magnetic materials retain their magnetization and suit permanent magnets. Laminating metallic cores breaks large eddy-current loops; ferrites are useful at higher frequencies because of their resistivity. Increasing current cannot increase $B$ indefinitely through the linear formula: core saturation, coil heating and leakage limit performance. A good design selects material for the field amplitude, switching frequency and acceptable loss, rather than simply choosing the largest quoted magnetic permeability.

For a linear induced response, reversing $I$ reverses $H_0$ and the sample magnetization, while also reversing the field gradient. Their product in $F_z={\mu }_{0}V{\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}{H}_0{H}_0^{\prime }$ therefore keeps the same sign and magnitude:This is also explicit in the $I^2$ dependence in part (d), for both the shape-consistent and printed alternatives. The conclusion assumes no independent permanent moment, remanence or hysteresis; those would require a different response model.

Specify what “onset” means. I would distinguish the first local, perhaps short-lived subduction event from persistent, self-sustaining recycling in a connected global network of tectonic plates. Modern plate tectonics combines relatively rigid moving lithosphere, localized boundary deformation, seafloor spreading and sustained convergence. A sinking drip or a single imposed descending sheet is not sufficient evidence of that global regime. Different processes may become established at different times, so a transition interval may be a better hypothesis than an instantaneous worldwide switch.

Construct competing physical models. Solve conservation of mass, momentum and energy for evolving mantle convection and lithosphere, including temperature- and stress-dependent rheology, brittle yielding, plastic deformation, melting, compositional buoyancy and relevant phase changes. Use geodynamic modelling to compare a stagnant lid, episodic overturn, drip-dominated recycling and a sustained mobile lid. In a simplified incompressible creeping-flow framework,Here $\mathbf{u}$ is velocity, $p$ pressure, $\eta$ effective viscosity, $\dot{\mathbf{ϵ}}$ the strain-rate tensor, $\rho$ density, $\mathbf{g}$ gravitational acceleration, $c_p$ specific heat capacity, $k$ thermal conductivity, $H$ radiogenic power per unit mass, and $\Phi$ dissipative heating per unit volume. These equations are a framework: compressibility, latent heat and chemical transport may require additional terms. A simple yield stress law ${\tau }_y=C+\mu (\rho gz-P_f)$ represents cohesion $C$, friction coefficient $\mu$ and pore pressure $P_f$, illustrating why hydration and interface weakening can change the outcome.

Vary the early-planet controls rather than assuming the answer. Explore plausible initial mantle potential temperature, radiogenic heating, crust thickness and composition, water inventory, grain-size evolution, surface temperature, and boundary strength. Hotter mantle lowers viscosity but can produce thicker buoyant basaltic crust; it does not automatically make sustained subduction easier. A cold strong plate can transmit slab pull yet resist bending and initiation. Water weakening of rocks, melt-induced weakening, inherited faults and mechanically weak sediments can change this balance. Test proposed triggers such as mantle plume impingement or gravitational instability without presupposing an established global plate-force system.

Useful diagnostics include the Rayleigh number,with thermal expansion coefficient $\alpha$, layer thickness $D$, thermal diffusivity $\kappa$ and temperature contrast $\Delta T$, together with surface mobility, the localization of deformation, plate longevity, melt production and material recycling. A large Rayleigh number establishes vigorous convection under suitable conditions, not necessarily a mobile lid. A convincing model should sustain one-sided subduction, connected boundary evolution and seafloor spreading after any artificial trigger is removed. Compare initiation thresholds with continuation thresholds: hysteresis can allow an established regime to persist under conditions in which it would not spontaneously start.

As an example of the type of experiment, three-dimensional models have tested mantle plume-induced subduction initiation, finding sensitivity to plate buoyancy, magmatic weakening and hydration of the interface. The scientific use of such results here is to identify a feasible mechanism and its predicted signatures, not to adopt their success as a direct measurement of an ancient onset date.^[ref]

Connect a model regime to a date through independent evidence. Couple the experiments to candidate planetary cooling histories, then predict observable pressure-temperature-time paths, magmatic compositions, deformation patterns and recycling rates for each regime. If independently dated rocks constrain a thermal or compositional state, ask which regimes can reproduce that state and the observed geological associations. Repeat over uncertain initial conditions and constitutive parameters, check numerical resolution, and compare two- and three-dimensional results where geometry matters. Models that prescribe a descending slab, fix plate velocity, or insert a weak boundary may be excellent forward models of a working subduction zone but do not demonstrate spontaneous initiation.

The result is a conditional statement: persistent plate tectonics is physically feasible under a range of conditions, and dated geological observations may favor that range at a particular time. Uncertain cooling histories, several feasible regimes and uncertain rheology prevent numerical feasibility alone from dating onset. The strongest constraint comes when the same parameter range explains multiple independently dated observations and alternative regimes fail those tests.

In a weak applied field, magnetic susceptibility relates magnetization to magnetic field intensity, $M=\chi H$. Its sign, temperature dependence and nonlinear field dependence distinguish several mechanisms.

Diamagnetism is the orbital response opposing an applied magnetic field, with $\chi <0$. Closed-shell atoms and filled bands generally give a weak, nearly temperature-independent response. In a simple free electron metal, Landau diamagnetism contributes ${\chi }_L=-{\chi }_P/3$; the factor is specific to the isotropic parabolic-band model and is not universal in crystals.

Paramagnetism gives $\chi >0$. Localized magnetic moments align statistically with the field against thermal disorder. For independent moments of angular momentum $J$,which is the Curie law. Exchange interactions often lead approximately to the Curie–Weiss law, $\chi =C/(T-\Theta )$, sufficiently far above any ordering temperature. The sign of $\Theta$ suggests predominantly parallel or antiparallel exchange, though it is not a complete classification. Conduction electrons instead exhibit Pauli paramagnetism:for $g\simeq 2$ and a spin-summed density of states per unit volume. Only states close to the Fermi energy change occupation, making this response nearly temperature independent when $k_{B}T\ll E_F$.

Ferromagnetism has spontaneous parallel magnetic order below a Curie temperature. Exchange interaction, not simply classical dipole attraction, provides the dominant alignment mechanism. In the convention $H=-J_{\mathrm{ex}}{\sum }_{⟨ij⟩}{\mathbf{S}}_i\cdot {\mathbf{S}}_j$, positive $J_{\mathrm{ex}}$ favours alignment. Magnetic domains can make a ferromagnet's total magnetization vanish before an external field aligns its domains. Domain motion and anisotropy produce saturation, hysteresis, remanent magnetization and a reverse field measured by magnetic coercivity.

Antiferromagnetism has oppositely ordered sublattices below a Néel temperature; equal opposing moments give zero net magnetization while retaining a nonzero staggered order parameter. A susceptibility anomaly and magnetic neutron diffraction reveal this order even when bulk magnetization vanishes. Ferrimagnetism also has opposing sublattices but unequal contributions, giving a nonzero spontaneous net moment. Above their ordering temperatures both can become paramagnetic. Measurements with a magnetometer as a function of field and temperature, supplemented by magnetic diffraction, therefore distinguishes a compensated ordered material from an ordinary paramagnet.

Landau theory expands the free energy in an order parameter. For a scalar with sign-reversal symmetry and zero conjugate field, a useful sextic even Landau potential isEquilibrium selects the global minimum; other local minima can be metastable.

For $b>0$, the minimum changes continuously from $m=0$ to $m\simeq \pm \sqrt{-r/b}$ as $r$ passes below zero. This is a second-order transition at $T_0$: the order parameter is continuous, there is no latent heat, and thermodynamic derivatives such as heat capacity can be discontinuous.

For $b<0$, the sixth-order term stabilizes the free energy. Equality of the ordered and disordered minima, together with $f^{\prime }(m)=0$, givesThe order parameter jumps at $T_t=T_0+r_t/a$. The entropy generally jumps too, giving latent heat; metastable branches and barriers permit hysteresis, though equilibrium coexistence itself does not require hysteresis. The special case $b=0$ is tricritical. Mean-field exponents can fail where fluctuations dominate.

Yes: there is a quasistatic hysteresis loop. Equilibrium points lie on the mathematical model parameter curve $a=-P(N)$. Its two saddle-node bifurcations occur at the stationary points computed in part (a), at mathematical model parameter valuesBetween these values there are two attracting branches separated by a repelling branch. Starting below $a_{\mathrm{down}}$ and increasing $a$ slowly, a solution follows the lower attracting branch. This branch persists through the bistability interval and ends only at $a_{\mathrm{up}}$, where it meets the repelling branch in a saddle-node bifurcation. The solution then moves to the upper attracting branch.

If the direction of mathematical model parameter change is reversed, the upper branch persists until $a_{\mathrm{down}}$, where a different saddle-node bifurcation forces the downward transition. The two transition values differ, and both lie inside the allowed range $[-1/2,1/2]$. Thus the biological population selected at an intermediate mathematical model parameter value depends on its prior branch. This is the equilibrium point hysteresis shown in the branch diagram; finite-rate passage can additionally delay the jumps near the saddle-node bifurcations.

In a functional model, a driven piston reduces the chamber's volume. A surrounding cylinder carries the wall stress; a deformable packing or gasket closes a potential leak path around a moving or removable closure. A sample and a separate pressure sensor occupy the chamber. A transmitting liquid can load the sample on all sides; the sensor's signal passes to an external readout. This is a division of experimental functions, not a scale reconstruction of one historical machine.

For a slowly moving frictionless drive piston of effective surface area $A$, external pressure $p_{\mathrm{ext}}$ and inward applied force $F$, Newton's second law at mechanical balance givesThus $20\mathrm{kN}$ on a stipulated $20\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{m}}^2$ effective surface area corresponds ideally to $1\mathrm{GPa}$ of differential pressure. These are illustrative numbers, not apparatus specifications. The effective surface area is the one associated with the pressure difference, not necessarily an external ram's visible cross section. With resisting friction $F_f$ during inward motion, the balance becomes $p-p_{\mathrm{ext}}=(F-F_f)/A$. During outward motion the sign of the friction contribution reverses. An applied-load reading can therefore show hysteresis even when the chamber's actual pressure is well defined.

A resistance pressure gauge instead supplies an internal signal. In a generic electrical readout, measure an electric potential difference $V_e$ with a known electric current $I$ and use Ohm's law to infer electrical resistance $R=V_e/I$. This describes a possible readout principle; the lecture passage cited below identifies the sensor material and calibration landmarks without specifying this wiring.

A 1998 NIST account describes stirred comparison baths, a reference SPRT with a 30 Hz resistance bridge, and a temperature-controlled $100\Omega$ reference resistor. The test IPRTs used a $1\mathrm{mA}$ current source, a scanner, and an 8½-digit voltmeter. Separate current and voltage leads made each test probe a four-terminal device; readings in both current directions supplied voltage ratios to the reference resistor.^[ref]

Its program bracketed test readings with reference SPRT readings and repeated a block if bath drift was excessive. A check SPRT monitored the system; reference water-triple point measurements checked stability. Sensor depths were matched, and unfamiliar probes underwent immersion tests. Ice and water-triple point readings before and after calibration checked changes. Additional points could test the fitted curve. Reported calibration uncertainties excluded transport, subsequent drift, hysteresis, and the user's measurement system. These are controls and limits of that documented apparatus, not an accuracy promise for all platinum resistance thermometers.^[ref]

The inference is a pair: reference temperature from the SPRT, test electrical resistance from the electrical readout. Record measuring electric current, wiring, immersion, and the stated reference scale with each pair. A bath controller's setpoint is not itself the calibrated reference temperature. Returning to a reference and checking intermediate points distinguishes a fitted relation from a reproducible calibration over the intended interval.