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.
The condition implies . The small-argument expansion of the hyperbolic tangent gives , so
Using yields the entropic Hooke law for a one-dimensional chain
Thus the effective spring constant is .
At fixed tension, the exact extension is
Increasing the temperature decreases the positive argument of the hyperbolic tangent, so the chain contracts. In the small-extension regime this becomes
which is inversely proportional to .