Itinerant ferromagnetism in the periodic Anderson model

We introduce a mechanism for itinerant ferromagnetism, based on a simple two-band model. The model includes an uncorrelated and dispersive band hybridized with a second band which is narrow and correlated. The simplest Hamiltonian containing these ingredients is the periodic Anderson model (PAM). Using quantum Monte Carlo and analytical methods, we show that the PAM and an extension of it contain the mechanism and exhibit a nonsaturated ferromagnetic ground state in the intermediate-valence regime. We propose that the mechanism, which does not assume an intra-atomic Hund’s coupling, is present in both the iron group and in some f electron compounds like Ce(Rh_1-xRu_x)₃B₂, La_xCe_1-xRh₃B₂, and the uranium monochalcogenides US, USe, and UTe.