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


Abstract in English

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. Together, these results indicate a highly nontrivial topology, which is generic to hexagonal close packed ferromagnets. We discuss potential implications for other such systems.

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