PERSISTENT CURRENTS IN A MESOSCOPIC RING IN AN INHOMOGENEOUS MAGNETIC-FIELD

Based on an exact second quantized Hamiltonian of a noninteracting ele ctron ps in a mesoscopic normal metal ring placed in an inhomogeneous magnetic field of texture structure, we obtain a series of new feature s of this physical system. The exact energy eigenvalue is found using the Bogoliubov transformation and the values of the persistent current s are calculated. Our results show that in this system the inhomogenei ty of the field giving a spin-orbit interaction of the electron motion can support a persistent current even in the absence of an Aharonov-B ohm type flux. Under the usual condition gammaB much less than K(n), w hich condition is fulfilled with a copper ring of mesoscopic size, it leads to a persistent current only of the order of the square of the Z eeman splitting.