Magnetic moment of an electron gas in crossed, homogeneous electric and magnetic fields

The magnetic properties of a Dirac electron gas in crossed, homogeneous electric (E) and magnetic (H) fields are studied. An explicit expression for the magnetic moment of the gas is obtained. The calculations in the degeneracy limit of the gas show that (i) for values of E/H>0.01 there is a clear suppression of the transition from paramagnetism to diamagnetism, (ii) there is a weakening of the quasi-periodic oscillations of the magnetic moment observed in the E=0 case, again for E/H>0.01, and (iii) there is a distinct possibility of spontaneous magnetisation for the values of E/H>0.9. © 1983 IOP Publishing Ltd.