B Is Quantum Mechanics necessary for understanding electromagnetic phenomena?

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The discussion explores the relationship between electron spin and magnetism, clarifying that while there is a connection between spin and the magnetic moment of subatomic particles, classical magnetism, such as that seen in iron, is primarily due to orbital angular momentum rather than spin. Magnetic fields arise from moving electrical charges, and magnetic repulsion is explained by the Lorentz force, not the Pauli exclusion principle. Quantum effects, such as exchange forces, play a significant role in phenomena like ferromagnetism, which involves the alignment of electron spins. Understanding these concepts requires a solid foundation in classical electromagnetism before delving into quantum mechanics. Ultimately, quantum theory is essential for accurately predicting material properties related to magnetism.
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TL;DR
link between electron spin and magnetism
Is there a link between electron spin and magnetism? can a magnetic field also be thought of as a 'spin' field. If the eletron spin is linked to the magnetic field then can magnetic repulsion be caused be the pauli exclusion principle?
 
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brianhurren said:
TL;DR Summary: link between electron spin and magnetism

Is there a link between electron spin and magnetism?
There is a link between spin and the magnetic moment of a subatomic particle, but if by “magnetism” you mean magnets attracted to iron and steel and all that…. No. That’s all from molecular magnetic moments dominated by the orbital angular momentum of electrons. In general, magnetic fields are caused by moving electrical charges. So…
can a magnetic field also be thought of as a 'spin' field.
No.
If the electron spin is linked to the magnetic field then can magnetic repulsion be caused be the pauli exclusion principle?
It is not. Magnetic repulsion is an example of the Lorentz force, in which charged particles moving in a magnetic field experience a force.

It’s probably best not to try quantum mechanical explanations of electromagnetic phenomena until you have a solid grasp of classical electromagnetism. For this you’ll want a good undergraduate text.
 
Nugatory said:
There is a link between spin and the magnetic moment of a subatomic particle, but if by “magnetism” you mean magnets attracted to iron and steel and all that…. No. That’s all from molecular magnetic moments dominated by the orbital angular momentum of electrons. In general, magnetic fields are caused by moving electrical charges. So…No.It is not. Magnetic repulsion is an example of the Lorentz force, in which charged particles moving in a magnetic field experience a force.
How do you come to this idea? Ferro magnetism in, e.g., iron is a quantum effect ("exchange forces") making the alignment of the spins and thus the magnetic moments of the electrons energetically favorable compared to the unpolarized state, which is an example for the spontaneous breaking of symmetry (rotational symmetry). Empirically that becomes clear by the famous fact that the gyrofactor in the Einstein-de Haas effect is 2 and not 1, as falsely claimed by Einstein and de Haas, before it was corrected by a repetition of the experiment by Barnett:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein–de_Haas_effect#History
Nugatory said:
It’s probably best not to try quantum mechanical explanations of electromagnetic phenomena until you have a solid grasp of classical electromagnetism. For this you’ll want a good undergraduate text.
Well, it depends. If it comes to the prediction of material properties (constitutive relations) you cannot do without QT, as this historical example of a theoretical prejudice letting de Haas to ignore measurements indicating the gyrofactor close to 2, which of course in 1916 was unknown since there indeed they thought that magnetism is due to Amperian "molecular circuit currents". The corresponding "currents" due to spin were not known since spin has been discovered only in 1925 (Goudsmit and Uhlenbeck) and the correct gyrofactor of 2 in 1926 (Thomas). Nowadays it's all derived through the Dirac equation + QED radiative corrections (leading to deviations from g=2 for elementary spin-1/2 particles, which are among the best theoretical predictions in comparison to experiment ever).
 
For the quantum state ##|l,m\rangle= |2,0\rangle## the z-component of angular momentum is zero and ##|L^2|=6 \hbar^2##. According to uncertainty it is impossible to determine the values of ##L_x, L_y, L_z## simultaneously. However, we know that ##L_x## and ## L_y##, like ##L_z##, get the values ##(-2,-1,0,1,2) \hbar##. In other words, for the state ##|2,0\rangle## we have ##\vec{L}=(L_x, L_y,0)## with ##L_x## and ## L_y## one of the values ##(-2,-1,0,1,2) \hbar##. But none of these...

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