Accounting for ionic interactions via the molecular field #13
Description
Hi @asche1 and @drjbarker,
My research has immensely benefited from your PyCrystalField program. Thank you so much for this wonderful CEF fitting program.
Currently, the PyCrystalField program has a general Hamiltonian with the CEF and Zeeman terms. I wish to suggest a feature of including the molecular field in the general Hamiltonian. The molecular field accounts for the ionic interactions within a mean-field framework.
In my master's thesis project, I implemented this feature by modifying the PyCrystalField program. I have briefly described the general Hamiltonian, and thus physical observables, in light of the molecular field in my master's thesis, see pages 15 - 16. To check that this feature works, I have tested it with CeAgSb2. The magnetization and susceptibility were accurately reproduced, see pages 20-21 of my master's thesis.
Also, the molecular field feature has been incredible in my research studies, leading to two peer-reviewed publications: CeCd3As3 and CeCd3P3 and CeCd0.67As2.
Please let me know if this new feature is something you would like to incorporate. If so, I am glad to hear your suggestions on what's next whether by way of creating a pull request.