Unraveling the Spin Coulomb Drag Effect and Its Impact on Spin Transport in the Three-Dimensional Electron Gas

The spin Coulomb drag effect, arising from the exchange of momentum between electrons of opposite spins, plays a crucial role in the spin transport of interacting electron systems. This effect leads to the emergence of a spin mass and the finite lifetime of spin currents, posing challenges for the accurate description of spin dynamics. Using the state-of-the-art Variational Diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach, we investigate the spin-resolved exchange-correlation (XC) kernel in the three-dimensional uniform electron gas. Our analysis reveals a distinct nature in the spin response, characterized by a 1/q^2 divergence in the spin XC kernel at finite frequencies. This so-called ultranonlocal behavior, stemming from the spin Coulomb drag effect, is absent in the charge channel. By extracting precise values for the spin mass enhancement factor, we observe a trend of increasing enhancement with decreasing electron density. Furthermore, we find compelling evidence for the suppression of spin diffusion at low temperatures, characterized by vanishing inverse relaxation times. These findings deepen our understanding of the intricate relation between the Coulomb interaction and the spin transport, providing valuable insights for the development of accurate density functional approximations and the advancement of spintronics and quantum technologies.