Landau Theory of Altermagnetism

We formulate a Landau theory for altermagnets, a class of collinear compensated magnets with spin-split bands. Starting from the nonrelativistic limit, this Landau theory goes beyond a conventional analysis by including spin-space symmetries, providing a simple framework for understanding the key features of this family of materials. We find a set of multipolar secondary order parameters connecting existing ideas about the spin symmetries of these systems, their order parameters, and the effect of nonzero spin-orbit coupling. We account for several features of canonical altermagnets such as RuO2, MnTe, and CuF2 that go beyond symmetry alone, relating the order parameter to key observables such as magnetization, anomalous Hall conductivity, and magnetoelastic and magneto-optical probes. Finally, we comment on generalizations of our framework to a wider family of exotic magnetic systems derived from the zero spin-orbit coupled limit.Received 11 August 2023Revised 11 January 2024Accepted 1 April 2024DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.176702© 2024 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasMagnetic orderMagnetismSpintronicsTechniquesLandau-Ginzburg-Wilson theoryCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics