Deformation-assisted pairing in solid 3He

An interpretation is suggested of the magnetic transition in solid 3He at Tsub(N) = 1 mK, based on the self-consistent nature of the exchange operator. The hypothesis is that the relevant excitations are localized magnetic pair defects trapped in a lattice deformation. The transition then appears rather similar to a metal-insulator phase transition. An activation energy of the order of a typical exchange frequency agrees semi-quantitatively with the characteristic features of the transition. (author)