Consider a stipulated dilute collection of independent two-level systems, each with longitudinal magnetic moment , , and energy . The prescribed vacuum/applied magnetic flux density is . Ignore interactions, orbital magnetic response, and the small sample-field correction. This is the magnetic version of the existing independent spin-one-half two-level system, with alignment probabilities rather than an interacting Curie–Weiss model.
For temperature , the canonical ensemble gives the one-moment partition function , with . Taking the expected value over its two Boltzmann weights gives
Here is the number density, the Boltzmann constant, and the hyperbolic tangent. For , its small-argument expansion of the hyperbolic tangent gives , a Curie's law response in the applied- convention. For large , approaches the saturation magnetization with sign set by the field, and its differential magnetic susceptibility falls towards zero.
Both plots use stipulated , , , and . The moment is approximately one Bohr magneton; the chosen vacuum permeability is a rounded model input. At , and . The linear approximation overestimates by less than for , corresponding to or . These parameters keep the modeled response weak; neglected magnetic feedback is of relative order , rather than an explanation of a material's ordered phase.
Figure 1.
Magnetization approaching saturation magnetization, with its small-field linear range
. Original independent-moment calculation at stipulated . The shaded range has less than error relative to the exact magnetization. The second panel enlarges this range. The prescribed field is ; curves are model predictions, not measured data. Details.
Figure 2.
Bias-field and temperature dependence of the independent-moment differential magnetic susceptibility
. Original calculation using the same stipulated moments and number density. The left panel compares field sweeps at , and . The right panel compares temperature sweeps at prescribed , and . The zero-field slope follows Curie's law; cooling at fixed nonzero field eventually suppresses the slope through saturation magnetization. Details.
At , cooling increases the zero-field slope as . At fixed , cooling instead gives : a saturated moment can hardly change further. The order of the zero-field and zero-temperature limits matters. This independent model has no finite-temperature collective phase transition; the diverging zero-field slope alone does not establish one.
Consider an explicitly stipulated dilute independent spin-one-half two-level system with zero applied magnetic field. Each constituent has and , with constant signed gyromagnetic ratio . Ignore interactions and the specimen's own magnetic field. At positive temperature , thermal equilibrium with the rotating lattice gives energy levels . Define the dimensionless variable , where is the reduced Planck constant and is the Boltzmann constant. The partition function and Boltzmann distribution give
Taking the expected value gives
where is number density. This is the rotational version of the independent-moment magnetic response. The angular momentum aligns with positive rotation even when the magnetic moment points oppositely. The probability ratio provides a direct population check of the sign.
For , expand the hyperbolic tangent to obtain
The slope against is positive for either sign of , while the slope against has the sign of . At fixed , reversing reverses both means, and gives zero. At fixed nonzero , the formal limit saturates at ; the linear approximation must not be extrapolated there. At , the response vanishes. These limits describe the toy canonical ensemble, whose equilibration is assumed.
Figure 1. . Original calculated Independent spin Barnett response, with . The left panel reaches the formal saturation limits; the right panel is the extremely small-polarization room-temperature regime. The stipulated inputs describe a toy collection of independent spins; neither panel represents measurements of a ferromagnet or a fit to the gadolinium experiment. Details.
For a numerical example, stipulate , , , and rotation frequency . With , , and , the model gives
These are teaching inputs and calculated outputs, not measured material values. The corresponding internal angular momentum density is . Keeping a rotor at prescribed while its internal angular momentum changes requires the drive to supply the appropriate angular impulse. In an isolated body the mechanical part instead changes oppositely, as in magnetomechanical angular momentum balance. There is no creation of net angular momentum by choosing a rotating frame.
Let two systems exchange energy inside an otherwise isolated composite system, so is fixed. By the Second law of thermodynamics, equilibrium maximizes the total entropy
At an interior maximum,
Thus , which is entropy maximization under thermal contact and the condition for thermal equilibrium.
Stability requires this entropy maximum to be locally strict, so each ordinary subsystem has a concave entropy-energy relation. Since
one has , or equivalently
This is the entropy concavity and positive heat capacity criterion.
Now let and . Because the spins are distinguishable, the number of microstates is the binomial coefficient
The Boltzmann entropy and the Stirling formula give, to leading order for large ,
The total energy is
Therefore
Solving for the up-spin fraction gives the independent spin-one-half two-level system result
For ordinary positive absolute temperature,
with as and as . Since the spectrum is bounded above, the population-inverted range is also mathematically possible and corresponds to negative temperature; is the infinite-temperature state.
Substitution gives
and direct differentiation yields
Thus the energy increases with temperature throughout either finite-temperature branch, in particular throughout the required positive-temperature range.
Two-level paramagnetic cooling model Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Use the independent spin-one-half two-level system with fixed distinguishable sites and Hamiltonian levels , where is the magnitude of the field-axis magnetic moment and is a uniform externally controlled magnetic field. Assume positive temperature, no interactions between sites, and no appreciable lattice or load entropy. The two levels differ by . With inverse temperature , the canonical ensemble gives the one-site and total partition functions
Here the minus subscript denotes the lower energy . Factorization of the partition function requires additive energy and independent sites; there is no particle-exchange factor for these fixed distinguishable sites.
Differentiate the partition function, holding fixed when differentiating with respect to . The internal energy, Helmholtz free energy, total field-axis magnetic moment , and magnetic entropy are
The extensive moment is distinct from magnetization, the moment per unit volume. Direct substitution of into the Gibbs entropy gives the same independently of the free-energy derivative.
At fixed , the magnetic heat capacity is
Strict decrease makes invertible on . Constant magnetic entropy therefore fixes , not or separately:
The partition function may be used to label these equilibrium states even though the isolated cooling leg has no external heat bath. Actual thermalization of the lattice and load additionally requires a sufficiently fast spin-lattice relaxation; perfectly uncoupled spins by themselves cannot refrigerate an attached object.
The limiting cases are instructive. For , , , and . The moment response reproduces Curie's law. For , and the upper-state occupation is exponentially small. Taking at fixed gives ; taking at fixed gives . The origin has a path-dependent limit. Extrapolating a line of constant to does not construct a usable zero-temperature state or prove that a real material retains independent degenerate spins there.