  In this paper we show that the spin transfer torque can be described by a
pseudo magnetic field, proportional to the magnetic moment of the itinerant
electrons that enters the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation in the same way as
other external or internal magnetic fields. However, unlike an ordinary
magnetic field, which is always conservative in nature, the spin torque induced
pseudo field may have both conservative and non-conservative components. We
further show that the magnetic moment of itinerant electrons develops an
out-of-plane component only at non-equilibrium and this component is
responsible for the Slonczewski type switching that acts against the damping
and is always non-conservative. On the other hand, the in-plane components of
the pseudo field exist both at equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium, and are
responsible for the field like term. For tunnel based devices, this term
results in lower switching current for anti-parallel (AP) to parallel (P)
switching compared to P to AP, even when the torque magnitudes are completely
symmetric with voltage.
