- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Letters

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Emergent Gauge Fields and Linear Dichroism in Spin-Textured Altermagnets

Andrea Maiani*

  • *Contact author: research@andreamaiani.com
PDF

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 136703 – Published 22 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/phr7-1zy5

Abstract

Spin textures are ubiquitous in antiferromagnets, yet their consequences for altermagnets remain largely unexplored. We show that smooth spatial variations of the Néel order act on itinerant electrons as emergent gauge fields that couple to the altermagnetic sublattice-odd channel. For a coplanar spin helix, this channel generates two responses that vanish when it is removed: a momentum-resolved sublattice-odd spectral structure and a net interband linear dichroism whose principal axes are controlled by the helix wave vector, so the optical response can be steered by the magnetic texture. The dichroism exhibits two distinct regimes separated by a crossover: at low frequencies the absorption axis is locked to the crystal axes, while at high frequencies it tracks the helix. Anisotropic dc transport provides a complementary quantitative signature, and all signatures are robust to weak intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. Our results identify polarization-resolved optics and sublattice-sensitive spectroscopy as direct probes of textured altermagnetic states and suggest a route to direction-selective electronic and optical functionality in altermagnets.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (63)

  1. S. Hayami, Y. Yanagi, and H. Kusunose, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 88, 123702 (2019).
  2. S. Hayami, Y. Yanagi, and H. Kusunose, Phys. Rev. B 101, 220403(R) (2020).
  3. M. Naka, S. Hayami, H. Kusunose, Y. Yanagi, Y. Motome, and H. Seo, Nat. Commun. 10, 4305 (2019).
  4. M. Naka, S. Hayami, H. Kusunose, Y. Yanagi, Y. Motome, and H. Seo, Phys. Rev. B 102, 075112 (2020).
  5. L. Šmejkal, R. González-Hernández, T. Jungwirth, and J. Sinova, Sci. Adv. 6, eaaz8809 (2020).
  6. I. Mazin, Phys. Rev. X 12, 040002 (2022).
  7. L. Šmejkal, J. Sinova, and T. Jungwirth, Phys. Rev. X 12, 040501 (2022).
  8. T. Olsen, 2D Mater. 11, 033005 (2024).
  9. C. Autieri, Nature (London) 626, 482 (2024).
  10. K.-H. Ahn, A. Hariki, K.-W. Lee, and J. Kuneš, Phys. Rev. B 99, 184432 (2019).
  11. L. Šmejkal, J. Sinova, and T. Jungwirth, Phys. Rev. X 12, 031042 (2022).
  12. S. Lee, S. Lee, S. Jung, J. Jung, D. Kim, Y. Lee, B. Seok, J. Kim, B. G. Park, L. Šmejkal, C.-J. Kang, and C. Kim, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 036702 (2024).
  13. T. Osumi, S. Souma, T. Aoyama, K. Yamauchi, A. Honma, K. Nakayama, T. Takahashi, K. Ohgushi, and T. Sato, Phys. Rev. B 109, 115102 (2024).
  14. H. Reichlova et al., Nat. Commun. 15, 4961 (2024).
  15. J. Krempaský et al., Nature (London) 626, 517 (2024).
  16. S. Reimers, L. Odenbreit, L. Šmejkal, V. N. Strocov, P. Constantinou, A. B. Hellenes, R. Jaeschke Ubiergo, W. H. Campos, V. K. Bharadwaj, A. Chakraborty, T. Denneulin, W. Shi, R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, S. Das, M. Kläui, J. Sinova, and M. Jourdan, Nat. Commun. 15, 2116 (2024).
  17. R. M. Fernandes, V. S. de Carvalho, T. Birol, and R. G. Pereira, Phys. Rev. B 109, 024404 (2024).
  18. B. Jiang, M. Hu, J. Bai, Z. Song, C. Mu, G. Qu, W. Li, W. Zhu, H. Pi, Z. Wei, Y.-J. Sun, Y. Huang, X. Zheng, Y. Peng, L. He, S. Li, J. Luo, Z. Li, G. Chen, H. Li, H. Weng, and T. Qian, Nat. Phys. 21, 754 (2025).
  19. F. Zhang, X. Cheng, Z. Yin, C. Liu, L. Deng, Y. Qiao, Z. Shi, S. Zhang, J. Lin, Z. Liu, M. Ye, Y. Huang, X. Meng, C. Zhang, T. Okuda, K. Shimada, S. Cui, Y. Zhao, G.-H. Cao, S. Qiao, J. Liu, and C. Chen, Nat. Phys. 21, 760 (2025).
  20. O. Gomonay, V. Baltz, A. Brataas, and Y. Tserkovnyak, Nat. Phys. 14, 213 (2018).
  21. O. J. Amin, A. Dal Din, E. Golias, Y. Niu, A. Zakharov, S. C. Fromage, C. J. B. Fields, S. L. Heywood, R. B. Cousins, F. Maccherozzi, J. Krempaský, J. H. Dil, D. Kriegner, B. Kiraly, R. P. Campion, A. W. Rushforth, K. W. Edmonds, S. S. Dhesi, L. Šmejkal, T. Jungwirth, and P. Wadley, Nature (London) 636, 348 (2024).
  22. R. Yamamoto, L. A. Turnbull, M. Schmidt, J. C. Corsaletti Filho, H. J. Binger, M. Di Pietro Martínez, M. Weigand, S. Finizio, Y. Prots, G. M. Ferguson, U. Vool, S. Wintz, and C. Donnelly, Phys. Rev. Appl. 24, 034037 (2025).
  23. K. Kobayashi, T. Hayashida, and T. Kimura, npj Quantum Mater. 11, 38 (2026).
  24. H. Vakili, E. Schwartz, and A. A. Kovalev, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 176401 (2025).
  25. Z. Jin, Z. Zeng, Y. Cao, and P. Yan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 196701 (2024).
  26. Y. Jiang, X. Chen, C. Xuan, Z. Wang, and H. Yu, Phys. Rev. B 112, 014423 (2025).
  27. R.-C. Xiao, H. Li, H. Han, W. Gan, M. Yang, D.-F. Shao, S.-H. Zhang, Y. Gao, M. Tian, and J. Zhou, Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 69, 217511 (2025).
  28. P.-H. Fu, Q. Lv, Y. Xu, J. Cayao, J.-F. Liu, and X.-L. Yu, npj Quantum Mater. 10, 111 (2025).
  29. Y. Liu, Z. Jin, J. Liu, and P. Yan, arXiv:2601.13499.
  30. O. Gomonay, V. P. Kravchuk, R. Jaeschke-Ubiergo, K. V. Yershov, T. Jungwirth, L. Šmejkal, J. v. d. Brink, and J. Sinova, npj Spintronics 2, 35 (2024).
  31. P. Bruno, V. K. Dugaev, and M. Taillefumier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 096806 (2004).
  32. G. Tatara, H. Kohno, and J. Shibata, Phys. Rep. 468, 213 (2008).
  33. G. Tatara, Physica 106E, 208 (2019).
  34. N. Davier and R. Ramazashvili, Phys. Rev. B 107, 014406 (2023).
  35. N. Davier and R. Ramazashvili, Phys. Rev. B 109, 224425 (2024).
  36. T. Yokouchi, F. Kagawa, M. Hirschberger, Y. Otani, N. Nagaosa, and Y. Tokura, Nature (London) 586, 232 (2020).
  37. C. Song, H. Bai, Z. Zhou, L. Han, H. Reichlova, J. H. Dil, J. Liu, X. Chen, and F. Pan, Nat. Rev. Mater. 10, 473 (2025).
  38. H. Wang, X. Xu, D. Li, and L. Yang, Phys. Rev. B 113, 115408 (2026).
  39. M. Roig, A. Kreisel, Y. Yu, B. M. Andersen, and D. F. Agterberg, Phys. Rev. B 110, 144412 (2024).
  40. See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/phr7-1zy5 for the derivation of the texture gauge formalism and projected low-energy effective theory, the optical and dc conductivity calculations, additional numerical robustness checks including intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, and simulation parameters, which includes Ref. [41].
  41. X. Cheng, Y. Gao, J. Peng, C. Wan, and J. Liu, arXiv:2602.09465.
  42. M. Bode, M. Heide, K. von Bergmann, P. Ferriani, S. Heinze, G. Bihlmayer, A. Kubetzka, O. Pietzsch, S. Blügel, and R. Wiesendanger, Nature (London) 447, 190 (2007).
  43. J. Gondolf, A. Kreisel, M. Roig, Y. Yu, D. F. Agterberg, and B. M. Andersen, Phys. Rev. B 111, 174436 (2025).
  44. E. Petermann, K. Mæland, and B. Trauzettel, Phys. Rev. B 112, 214450 (2025).
  45. V. Bonbien and A. Manchon, Phys. Rev. B 102, 085113 (2020).
  46. P. Němec, M. Fiebig, T. Kampfrath, and A. V. Kimel, Nat. Phys. 14, 229 (2018).
  47. V. Grigorev, M. Filianina, S. Y. Bodnar, S. Sobolev, N. Bhattacharjee, S. Bommanaboyena, Y. Lytvynenko, Y. Skourski, D. Fuchs, M. Kläui, M. Jourdan, and J. Demsar, Phys. Rev. Appl. 16, 014037 (2021).
  48. L.-S. Liu, K. Shao, H.-D. Li, X. Wan, W. Chen, and D. Y. Xing, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 106301 (2026).
  49. Y. Fukaya, B. Lu, K. Yada, Y. Tanaka, and J. Cayao, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 37, 313003 (2025).
  50. K. Maeda, Y. Fukaya, K. Yada, B. Lu, Y. Tanaka, and J. Cayao, Phys. Rev. B 111, 144508 (2025).
  51. S. S. Pershoguba, S. Nakosai, and A. V. Balatsky, Phys. Rev. B 94, 064513 (2016).
  52. C. W. J. Beenakker and T. Vakhtel, Phys. Rev. B 108, 075425 (2023).
  53. C. Sun, A. Brataas, and J. Linder, Phys. Rev. B 108, 054511 (2023).
  54. A. Maiani and R. S. Souto, Phys. Rev. B 111, 224506 (2025).
  55. B. Lu, P. Mercebach, P. Burset, K. Yada, J. Cayao, Y. Tanaka, and Y. Fukaya, Phys. Rev. B 113, L180501 (2026).
  56. Y. Fukaya, B. Lu, K. Yada, Y. Tanaka, and J. Cayao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 226001 (2026).
  57. D. S. Rabinovich, I. V. Bobkova, A. M. Bobkov, and M. A. Silaev, Phys. Rev. B 99, 214501 (2019).
  58. P.-H. Fu, S. Mondal, J.-F. Liu, and J. Cayao, SciPost Phys. 20, 059 (2026).
  59. P.-H. Fu, S. Mondal, J.-F. Liu, Y. Tanaka, and J. Cayao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 066703 (2026).
  60. M. Yarmohammadi, M. Berritta, M. Bukov, L. Šmejkal, J. Linder, and P. M. Oppeneer, Phys. Rev. B 113, L060403 (2026).
  61. C. Schrade and M. S. Scheurer, arXiv:2602.20236.
  62. A. Maiani, Emergent Gauge Fields and Linear Dichroism in Spin-Textured Altermagnets: Code for the paper (2026), https://zenodo.org/records/18658428.
  63. J. C. Abadillo-Uriel, A. Maiani, A. Cortijo, R. Aguado, and R. S. Souto, arXiv:2606.26066.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 136703– Published 22 September, 2026
  • Received 9 March 2026
  • Revised 20 July 2026
  • Accepted 24 August 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation