Spin-Dynamical Analysis of Supercell Spin Configurations

A model-independent approach capable of extracting spin-wave frequencies and displacement vectors from ensembles of supercell spin configurations is presented. The method is appropriate for those systems whose spin-dynamical motion is well characterised by small-amplitude fluctuations that give harmonic spin waves. First, the the spin-dynamical matrix is described and its eigenvalues shown to correspond to the spin-wave mode frequencies. The generalised spin coordinate matrix - a quantity that may be calculated from the observed spin orientations in an ensemble of spin configurations - is then introduced and its relationship to the spin-dynamical matrix established. Its eigenvalues are subsequently shown to be related to the spin-wave mode frequencies, allowing the extraction of spin-wave dispersion curves from configurational ensembles. Finally, a quantum-mechanical derivation of the same results is given, and the method applied as a case study to spin Monte-Carlo configurations of a 3D Heisenberg ferromagnet.