Microscopic Mechanisms of Spin-Dependent Electric Polarization in 3d Oxides

We present a short critical overview of different microscopic models for nonrelativistic and relativistic magnetoelectric coupling including the so-called "spin current scenario", ab-initio calculations, and several recent microscopic approaches to a spin-dependent electric polarization in 3d oxides. © EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2009.Financial support by the RFBR through Grants Nos. 07-02-96047, 08-02-00633 (A.S.M.), and by the DFG under contract DR269/3-1 (S.-L.D.) are acknowledged. A.S.M. would like to thank Leibniz-Institut f ̈ur Festk ̈orper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden, where part of this work was done, for hospitality