Dirac magnons, nodal lines, and nodal plane in elemental gadolinium

TL;DR

This paper reveals that elemental gadolinium hosts Dirac magnons with topologically nontrivial features like nodal lines and planes, exhibiting Berry phase effects and surface modes, indicating complex magnetic topology in hexagonal ferromagnets.

Contribution

It demonstrates the topological nature of magnetic excitations in Gd, identifying Dirac magnons, nodal lines, and planes, and links these features to symmetry and Berry phase physics.

Findings

Identification of Dirac magnons in Gd

Presence of nodal lines and planes with topological properties

Observation of Berry phase effects and surface modes

Abstract

We investigate the magnetic excitations of elemental gadolinium (Gd) using inelastic neutron scattering, showing that Gd is a Dirac magnon material with nodal lines at $K$ and nodal planes at half integer $\ell$. We find an anisotropic intensity winding around the $K$-point Dirac magnon cone, which is interpreted to indicate Berry phase physics. Using linear spin wave theory calculations, we show the nodal lines have non-trivial Berry phases, and topological surface modes. We also discuss the origin of the nodal plane in terms of a screw-axis symmetry, and introduce a topological invariant characterizing its presence and effect on the scattering intensity. Together, these results indicate a highly nontrivial topology, which is generic to hexagonal close packed ferromagnets. We discuss potential implications for other such systems.