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Resistivity anomalies arising from spin correlations in magnetic metals

Youngro Lee*, Daniil Evtushynsky, and Henrik M. Rønnow†

  • *Contact author: youngro.lee@epfl.ch
  • †Contact author: henrik.ronnow@epfl.ch
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 045153 – Published 27 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5z4m-6z8l

Abstract

Some magnetic materials exhibit a pronounced peak or upturn in resistivity upon cooling through the ordering transition, while others do not. To explain and quantify this phenomenon, we develop a simple model in which the carrier lifetime is calculated from the scattering of conduction electrons by local magnetic moments. Within this framework, we derive a general formula for the electron scattering rate, applicable to arbitrary energy dispersions and magnetic structure factors. Using ferromagnets as an example, we show that a resistivity anomaly occurs at Tc, arising from the rapid increase in the magnetic correlation length ξ. We find that this behavior is robust across dimensionality d and persists in anisotropic systems. The maximum resistivity is reached when 1/ξ is comparable to the Fermi momentum kF, and the peak height scales inversely with kFd+2. As a result, the effect is most pronounced for smaller Fermi surfaces, where the anomaly can dominate over other resistivity contributions such as electron-phonon or electron-impurity scattering.

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 045153– Published 27 January, 2026
  • Received 19 September 2025
  • Accepted 2 January 2026
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