magnetism

Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that are

mediated by magnetic fields. Electric currents and the magnetic
moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field,
which acts on other currents and magnetic moments.
Magnetism is one aspect of the combined phenomenon
of electromagnetism. The most familiar effects occur
in ferromagnetic materials, which are strongly attracted by
magnetic fields and can be magnetized become
permanent magnets, producing magnetic fields themselves.
Only a few substances are ferromagnetic; the most common
ones are iron, cobalt and nickel and their alloys. The
prefix ferro- refers to iron, because permanent magnetism was
first observed in lodestone, a form of natural iron ore
called magnetite, Fe3O4.
Although ferromagnetism is responsible for most of the effects
of magnetism encountered in everyday life, all other materials
are influenced to some extent by a magnetic field, by several
other types of magnetism. Paramagnetic substances such
as aluminum and oxygen are weakly attracted to an applied
magnetic field; diamagnetic substances such
as copper and carbon are weakly repelled;
while antiferromagnetic materials such as chromium and spin
glasses have a more complex relationship with a magnetic
field. The force of a magnet on paramagnetic, diamagnetic, and
antiferromagnetic materials is usually too weak to be felt and
can be detected only by laboratory instruments, so in everyday
life, these substances are often described as non-magnetic.
The magnetic state (or magnetic phase) of a material depends
on temperature and other variables such as pressure and the
applied magnetic field. A material may exhibit more than one
form of magnetism as these variables change. As with
magnetizing a magnet, demagnetizing a magnet is also
possible.
The strength of a magnetic fields decreases following
an inverse-square law as distance from a (ideal point) magnetic
pole increases, and decreases with the inverse of distance from
an ideal, infinitely long wire carrying an electric current. Many
magnetic objects have complex shapes and make complicated
magnetic fields; only magnetic dipoles have been observed,
but magnetic monopoles have been predicted by some
theories.
Sources-
Magnetism, at its root, arises from two sources:

1. Electric current.
2. Spin magnetic moments of elementary particles.
The magnetic properties of materials are mainly due to the
magnetic moments of their atoms' orbiting electrons. The
magnetic moments of the nuclei of atoms are typically
thousands of times smaller than the electrons' magnetic
moments, so they are negligible in the context of the
magnetization of materials. Nuclear magnetic moments are
nevertheless very important in other contexts, particularly
in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI).
Ordinarily, the enormous number of electrons in a material are
arranged such that their magnetic moments (both orbital and
intrinsic) cancel out. This is due, to some extent, to electrons
combining into pairs with opposite intrinsic magnetic moments
as a result of the Pauli exclusion principle (see electron
configuration), and combining into filled sub - shells with zero
net orbital motion. In both cases, the electrons preferentially
adopt arrangements in which the magnetic moment of each
electron is cancelled by the opposite moment of another
electron. Moreover, even when the electron
configuration is such that there are unpaired electrons and/or
non-filled sub- shells , it is often the case that the various
electrons in the solid will contribute magnetic moments that
point in different, random directions to do so that the material
will not be magnetic.
Sometimes, either spontaneously, or owing to an applied
external magnetic field—each of the electron magnetic
moments will be, on average, lined up. A suitable material can
then produce a strong net magnetic field.
The magnetic behavior of a material depends on its structure,
particularly its electron configuration, for the reasons mentioned
above, and also on the temperature. At high temperatures,
random thermal motion makes it more difficult for the electrons
to maintain alignment.

Types of magnetism-
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism appears in all materials and is the tendency of a
material to oppose an applied magnetic field, and therefore, to
be repelled by a magnetic field. However, in a material with
paramagnetic properties (that is, with a tendency to enhance an
external magnetic field), the paramagnetic behaviour
dominates. Thus, despite its universal occurrence, diamagnetic
behavior is observed only in a purely diamagnetic material. In a
diamagnetic material, there are no unpaired electrons, so the
intrinsic electron magnetic moments cannot produce any bulk
effect. In these cases, the magnetization arises from the
electrons' orbital motions, which can be
understood classically as follows:
When a material is put in a magnetic field, the electrons circling
the nucleus will experience, in addition to
their Coulomb attraction to the nucleus, a Lorentz force from
the magnetic field. Depending on which direction the electron is
orbiting, this force may increase the centripetal force on the
electrons, pulling them in towards the nucleus, or it may
decrease the force, pulling them away from the nucleus. This
effect systematically increases the orbital magnetic moments
that were aligned opposite the field and decreases the ones
aligned parallel to the field (in accordance with Lenz's law). This
results in a small bulk magnetic moment, with an opposite
direction to the applied field.
This description is meant only as a heuristic; the Bohr-van
Leeuwen theorem shows that diamagnetism is impossible
according to classical physics, and that a proper understanding
requires a quantum-mechanical description.
All materials undergo this orbital response. However, in
paramagnetic and ferromagnetic substances, the diamagnetic
effect is overwhelmed by the much stronger effects caused by
the unpaired electrons.

Para -magnetism
In a paramagnetic material there are unpaired electrons;
i.e., atomic or molecular orbitals with exactly one electron in
them. While paired electrons are required by the Pauli
exclusion principle to have their intrinsic ('spin') magnetic
moments pointing in opposite directions, causing their magnetic
fields to cancel out, an unpaired electron is free to align its
magnetic moment in any direction. When an external magnetic
field is applied, these magnetic moments will tend to align
themselves in the same direction as the applied field, thus
reinforcing it.
Ferromagnetism
A ferromagnet, like a paramagnetic substance, has unpaired
electrons. However, in addition to the electrons' intrinsic
magnetic moment's tendency to be parallel to an applied field,
there is also in these materials a tendency for these magnetic
moments to orient parallel to each other to maintain a lowered-
energy state. Thus, even in the absence of an applied field, the
magnetic moments of the electrons in the material
spontaneously line up parallel to one another.
Every ferromagnetic substance has its own individual
temperature, called the Curie temperature, or Curie point,
above which it loses its ferromagnetic properties. This is
because the thermal tendency to disorder overwhelms the
energy-lowering due to ferromagnetic order.
Ferromagnetism only occurs in a few substances; common
ones are iron, nickel, cobalt, their alloys, and some alloys
of rare-earth metals.
MAGNETIC DOMAINS-
The magnetic moments of atoms in a ferromagnetic material cause
them to behave something like tiny permanent magnets. They stick
together and align themselves into small regions of more or less
uniform alignment called magnetic domains or Weiss domains.
Magnetic domains can be observed with a magnetic force
microscope to reveal magnetic domain boundaries that resemble
white lines in the sketch. There are many scientific experiments that
can physically show magnetic fields.
When a domain contains too many molecules, it becomes unstable
and divides into two domains aligned in opposite directions, so that
they stick together more stably, as shown at the right.
When exposed to a magnetic field, the domain boundaries move,
so that the domains aligned with the magnetic field grow and
dominate the structure, as shown at the left. When the magnetizing
field is removed, the domains may not return to an unmagnetized
state. This results in the ferromagnetic material's being magnetized,
forming a permanent magnet.
When magnetized strongly enough that the prevailing domain
overruns all others to result in only one single domain, the material
is magnetically saturated. When a magnetized ferromagnetic
material is heated to the Curie point temperature, the molecules are
agitated to the point that the magnetic domains lose the
organization, and the magnetic properties they cause cease. When
the material is cooled, this domain alignment structure
spontaneously returns, in a manner roughly analogous to how a
liquid can freeze into a crystalline solid.
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
In an anti-ferromagnet, unlike a ferromagnet, there is a tendency for
the intrinsic magnetic moments of neighbouring valence electrons
to point in opposite directions. When all atoms are arranged in a
substance so that each neighbour is anti-parallel, the substance
is anti-ferromagnetic . Anti-ferromagnets have a zero net magnetic
moment, meaning that no field is produced by them. Anti-
ferromagnets are less common compared to the other types of
behaviours and are mostly observed at low temperatures. In varying
temperatures, anti-ferromagnets can be seen to exhibit diamagnetic
and ferromagnetic properties.
In some materials, neighbouring electrons prefer to point in
opposite directions, but there is no geometrical arrangement in
which each pair of neighbours is anti-aligned. This is called a spin
glass and is an example of geometrical frustration.

ELECTROMAGNET
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is
produced by an electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the
current is turned off. Electromagnets usually consist of a large number of
closely spaced turns of wire that create the magnetic field. The wire
turns are often wound around a magnetic core made from
a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material such as iron; the magnetic
core concentrates the magnetic flux and makes a more powerful
magnet.
The main advantage of an electromagnet over a permanent magnet is
that the magnetic field can be quickly changed by controlling the amount
of electric current in the winding. However, unlike a permanent magnet
that needs no power, an electromagnet requires a continuous supply of
current to maintain the magnetic field.
Electromagnets are widely used as components of other electrical
devices,suchas motors, generators, relays,andsolenoids, loudspeakers,
hard disks, MRI machines, scientific instruments, and magnetic
separation equipment. Electromagnets are also employed in industry for
picking up and moving heavy iron objects such as scrap iron and steel.

MAGNETIC FIELD
A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence
of electric charges in relative motion[1][2] and magnetized materials. The
effects of magnetic fields are commonly seen in permanent magnets,
which pull on magnetic materials (such as iron) and attract or repel other
magnets. Magnetic fields surround and are created by magnetized
material and by moving electric charges (electric currents) such as those
used in electromagnets. They exert forces on nearby moving electrical
charges and torques on nearby magnets. In addition, a magnetic field
that varies with location exerts a force on magnetic materials. Both the
strength and direction of a magnetic field vary with location. As such, it is
described mathematically as a vector field.
In electromagnetics, the term "magnetic field" is used for two distinct but
closely related fields denoted by the symbols B and H. In
the International System of Units, H, magnetic field strength, is
measured in the SI base units of ampere per meter.[3] B, magnetic flux
density, is measured in tesla (in SI base units: kilogram per second2 per
ampere),[4] which is equivalent to newton per meter per
ampere. H and B differ in how they account for magnetization. In
a vacuum, B and H are the same aside from units; but in a magnetized
material, B/ and H differ by the magnetization M of the material at
that point in the material.
Magnetic fields are produced by moving electric charges and the
intrinsic magnetic moments of elementary particles associated with a
fundamental quantum property, their spin.[5][6] Magnetic fields
and electric fields are interrelated, and are both components of
the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Magnetic fields are widely used throughout modern technology,
particularly in electrical engineering and electromechanics. Rotating
magnetic fields are used in both electric motors and generators. The
interaction of magnetic fields in electric devices such as transformers is
studied in the discipline of magnetic circuits. Magnetic forces give
information about the charge carriers in a material through the Hall
effect. The Earth produces its own magnetic field, which shields the
Earth's ozone layer from the solar wind and is important
in navigation using a compass.
The B-field
The magnetic field can be defined in several equivalent ways based on
the effects it has on its environment.
Often the magnetic field is defined by the force it exerts on a moving
charged particle. Experiments in electrostatics show that a particle of
charge q in an electric field E experiences a force F = qE. Other
experiments show that a charged particle experiences a force
proportional to its relative velocity to a current-carrying wire. The velocity
dependent portion can be separated such that the force on the particle
satisfies the Lorentz force law,
F = q(E + v*B)
Here v is the particle's velocity and × denotes the cross product. The
vector B is termed the magnetic field, and it is defined as the vector field
necessary to make the Lorentz force law correctly describe the motion of
a charged particle.

The H-field
In addition to B, there is a quantity H, which is often called the magnetic
field. In a vacuum, B and H are proportional to each other, with the
multiplicative constant depending on the physical units. Inside a material
they are different ( H and B inside and outside magnetic materials). The
term "magnetic field" is historically reserved for H while using other terms
for B. Informally, though, and formally for some recent textbooks mostly
in physics, the term 'magnetic field' is used to describe B as well as or in
place of H.
MAGNETIC FIELD LINES
Mapping the magnetic field of an object is simple in principle. First,
measure the strength and direction of the magnetic field at a large
number of locations (or at every point in space). Then, mark each
location with an arrow (called a vector) pointing in the direction of the
local magnetic field with its magnitude proportional to the strength of the
magnetic field.
An alternative method to map the magnetic field is to "connect" the
arrows to form magnetic field lines. The direction of the magnetic field at
any point is parallel to the direction of nearby field lines, and the local
density of field lines can be made proportional to its strength. Magnetic
field lines are like streamlines in fluid flow, in that they represent
something continuous, and a different resolution would show more or
fewer lines.
An advantage of using magnetic field lines as a representation is that
many laws of magnetism (and electromagnetism) can be stated
completely and concisely using simple concepts such as the "number" of
field lines through a surface. These concepts can be quickly "translated"
to their mathematical form. For example, the number of field lines
through a given surface is the surface integral of the magnetic field.
Various phenomena "display" magnetic field lines as though the field
lines were physical phenomena. For example, iron filings placed in a
magnetic field form lines that correspond to "field lines".Magnetic field
"lines" are also visually displayed in polar auroras, in
which plasma particle dipole interactions create visible streaks of light
that line up with the local direction of Earth's magnetic field.
Field lines can be used as a qualitative tool to visualize magnetic forces.
In ferromagnetic substances like iron and in plasmas, magnetic forces
can be understood by imagining that the field lines exert a tension, (like
a rubber band) along their length, and a pressure perpendicular to their
length on neighbouring field lines. "Unlike" poles of magnets attract
because they are linked by many field lines; "like" poles repel because
their field lines do not meet, but run parallel, pushing on each other. The
rigorous form of this concept is the electromagnetic stress–energy
tensor.
MAGNETIC FIELD AND PERMANENT MAGNETS-
Permanent magnets are objects that produce their own persistent
magnetic fields. They are made of ferromagnetic materials, such as iron
and nickel, that have been magnetized, and they have both a north and
a south pole.
Magnetic field of permanent magnets
The magnetic field of permanent magnets can be quite complicated,
especially near the magnet. The magnetic field of a small straight
magnet is proportional to the magnet's strength (called its magnetic
dipole moment m). The equations are non-trivial and also depend on the
distance from the magnet and the orientation of the magnet. For simple
magnets, m points in the direction of a line drawn from the south to the
north pole of the magnet. Flipping a bar magnet is equivalent to rotating
its m by 180 degrees.
The magnetic field of larger magnets can be obtained by modeling them
as a collection of a large number of small magnets called dipoles each
having their own m. The magnetic field produced by the magnet then is
the net magnetic field of these dipoles; any net force on the magnet is a
result of adding up the forces on the individual dipoles.
There are two competing models for the nature of these dipoles. These
two models produce two different magnetic fields, H and B. Outside a
material, though, the two are identical (to a multiplicative constant) so
that in many cases the distinction can be ignored. This is particularly true
for magnetic fields, such as those due to electric currents, that are not
generated by magnetic materials.
Magnetic Pole model and the H-field
It is sometimes useful to model the force and torques between two
magnets as due to magnetic poles repelling or attracting each other in
the same manner as the Coulomb force between electric charges. In this
model, a magnetic H-field is produced by fictitious magnetic charges that
are spread over the surface of each pole. These magnetic charges are
in fact related to the magnetization field M.
The H-field, therefore, is analogous to the electric field E, which starts at
a positive electric charge and ends at a negative electric charge. Near
the north pole, therefore, all H-field lines point away from the north pole
(whether inside the magnet or out) while near the south pole all H-field
lines point toward the south pole (whether inside the magnet or out).
Too, a north pole feels a force in the direction of the H-field while the
force on the south pole is opposite to the H-field.
In the magnetic pole model, the elementary magnetic dipole m is formed
by two opposite magnetic poles of pole strength qm separated by a small
distance vector d, such that m = qm d. The magnetic pole model predicts
correctly the field H both inside and outside magnetic materials, in
particular the fact that H is opposite to the magnetization field M inside a
permanent magnet.
Since it is based on the fictitious idea of a magnetic charge density, the
pole model has limitations. Magnetic poles cannot exist apart from each
other as electric charges can, but always come in north/south pairs. If a
magnetized object is divided in half, a new pole appears on the surface
of each piece, so each has a pair of complementary poles. The magnetic
pole model does not account for magnetism that is produced by electric
currents.
Amperian Loop Model and the B-field
After Ørsted discovered that electric currents produce a magnetic field
and Ampere discovered that electric currents attracted and repelled
each other similar to magnets, it was natural to hypothesize that all
magnetic fields are due to electric current loops. In this model developed
by Ampere, the elementary magnetic dipole that makes up all magnets
is a sufficiently small Amperian loop of current I. The dipole moment of
this loop is m = IA where A is the area of the loop.
These magnetic dipoles produce a magnetic B-field. One important
property of the B-field produced this way is that magnetic B-field lines
neither start nor end (mathematically, B is a solenoidal vector field); a
field line either extends to infinity or wraps around to form a closed
curve. To date, no exception to this rule has been found. (See magnetic
monopole below.) Magnetic field lines exit a magnet near its north pole
and enter near its south pole, but inside the magnet B-field lines
continue through the magnet from the south pole back to the north.[nb 9] If
a B-field line enters a magnet somewhere it has to leave somewhere
else; it is not allowed to have an end point. Magnetic poles, therefore,
always come in N and S pairs.
More formally, since all the magnetic field lines that enter any given
region must also leave that region, subtracting the "number"[nb 10] of field
lines that enter the region from the number that exit gives identically
zero. Mathematically this is equivalent to:
Integral of B . dA = 0
Where the integral is a surface integral over the closed surface S (a
closed surface is one that completely surrounds a region with no holes
to let any field lines escape). Since dA points outward, the dot product in
the integral is positive for B-field pointing out and negative for B-field
pointing in.