  We report on a theoretical approach developed to investigate the influence of
Bychkov-Rashba interaction on a few interacting electrons confined in a quantum
dot. We note that the spin-orbit coupling profoundly influences the energy
spectrum of interacting electrons in a quantum dot. Inter-electron interaction
causes level crossings in the ground state and a jump in magnetization. As the
coupling strength is increased, that jump is shifted to lower magnetic fields.
Low-field magnetization will therefore provide a direct probe of the spin-orbit
coupling strength in a quantum dot.
