Spin density functional theory of the temperature-dependent spin susceptibility: Pd and Pt

The finite temperature spin density functional (SDF) formalism is used to derive a variational expression for the temperature-dependent spin susceptibility χ_p(T) of an inhomogeneous electron gas. The use of a simple trial function in the variational expression results in a Stoner form for χ_p(T), i.e., χ_p(T) ≥ χ_s(T)/[1 - I(T) χ_s (T)] where χ_s(T) is the single-particle spin susceptibility including exchange-correlation (XC) effects on the band structure within the framework of the density functional formalism and I(T) is the SDF analog of the Stoner parameter. It should be emphasized that this form for χ_p(T) is derived for a general XC free energy functional F_xc[n, m; T]. χ_s(T) has been calculated self-consistently, including relativi stic effects, using the local approximation for F_xc for Pd and Pt. These results have been used to investigate the temperature dependence of I(T) required to explain their experimental susceptibilities. It is found that when the spin-orbit interaction is included in the calculation of χ_s(T), the temperature variation of I(T) is stronger than that of χ_s(T).