Spin Density Waves in an Electron Gas

It is shown rigorously that the paramagnetic state of an electron gas is never the Hartree-Fock ground state, even in the high-density—or weak-interaction—limit. The paramagnetic state is always unstable with respect to formation of a static spin density wave. The instability occurs for spin-density waves having a wave vector $Q\approx 2k_F$, the diameter of the Fermi sphere. It follows that the (Hartree-Fock) spin susceptibility of the paramagnetic state is not a monotonic decreasing function with increasing $Q$, but rather a function with a singularity near $Q=2\mathrm{}{k}_F$. Rather convincing experimental evidence that the antiferromagnetic ground state of chromium is a large-amplitude spin density wave state is summarized. A number of consequences of such states are discussed, including the problem of detecting them by neutron diffraction.