Multimagnon and multispinon -edge RIXS spectra of an effective square-lattice Heisenberg model
Phys. Rev. B 112, 134438 – Published 23 October, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vc7b-15sf
Abstract
We investigate the multimagnon and the multispinon -edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra of a spin-1/2 effective square lattice Heisenberg model in its Néel ordered phase. Motivated by the observation of satellite intensity peaks above the single magnon dispersion in the -edge RIXS spectrum, we propose a resonating valence bond (RVB) inspired RIXS mechanism that incorporates the local site ultrashort core-hole lifetime (UCL) expansion. We compute the multimagnon and the multispinon excitations using interacting spin-wave theory and Schwinger boson mean-field theory (SBMFT) formalism, respectively. We treat the x-ray scattering process up to second order in the UCL expansion. Our calculations of two-magnon, bimagnon, and three-magnon RIXS intensities reveal that interacting spin-wave theory fails to fully capture all the quantum correlations in the antiferromagnetic ordered phase. However utilizing the SBMFT framework, with a ground state that incorporates features of both the Néel order and fluctuating RVB components, we demonstrate that a RIXS bond-flipping mechanism provides an alternative deeper physical explanation of the satellite intensities. Specifically, we find that the spin-correlation spectra predicted by the fluctuating RVB mechanism aligns with higher-order UCL expansion results. We further show that the satellite intensity above the single-magnon mode can originate both from a one-to-three-magnon hybridization vertex process and from condensed spinons exhibiting Higgs mechanism. These features reflect the interplay of quantum fluctuation, entanglement, and gauge interaction effects of quantum magnetism probed by RIXS.