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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 52: Poster Magnetism III

MA 52.6: Poster

Thursday, March 12, 2026, 15:00–17:00, P4

Linear Spin Wave Theory for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering — •Paul Hille and Maurits W. Haverkort — Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg

Magnon excitations provide a key window into the collective magnetic behavior of correlated materials. While inelastic neutron scattering (INS) has long been the standard technique to map magnon dispersion relations and intensities, in recent years, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) has grown into a complementary technique to measure dispersing magnetic excitations. Within the RIXS process one can not only excite single magnons but also multiple magnetic excitations with a single photon.

The central goal of this work is to extend existing linear spin wave theory (LSWT) routines for INS to handle multi-magnon excitations characteristic of RIXS spectra. This is combined with an effective RIXS scattering operator incorporating the resonant energy and light polarisation dependence. We obtain a general and extensible computational framework that enables RIXS modeling for realistic magnetic materials within LSWT. Furthermore, quantitative comparison with experimental RIXS data enables assessment of the validity of treating magnons as non-interacting quasiparticles.

Keywords: Magnons; RIXS; Linear spin-wave theory; Heisenberg Hamiltonian; Multi-magnon excitations