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We show that for itinerant 3d transition metal systems the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy is directly related to the anisotropic part of the spin-orbit interaction, rather than to the orbital part of the magnetic moment as was previously suggested. We further show how the spin-orbit anisotropy can be obtained by applying the sum rule for magnetic linear dichroism in x-ray absorption. This provides an element specific tool to study metallic multilayer systems displaying novel magnetic properties, such as perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.
G. van der Laan (Mon,) studied this question.