  We present a thorough theoretical assessment of the stability of
non-collinear spin arrangements in small palladium clusters. We generally find
that ferromagnetic order is always preferred, but that antiferromagnetic and
non-collinear configurations of different sorts exist and compete for the first
excited isomers. We also show that the ground state is insensitive to the
choice of atomic configuration for the pseudopotential used and to the
approximation taken for the exchange and correlation potential. Moreover, the
existence and relative stability of the different excited configurations also
depends weakly on the approximations employed. These results provide strong
evidence on the transferability of pseudopotential and exchange and correlation
functionals for palladium clusters as opposed to the situation found for the
bulk phases of palladium.
