Spin-dependent quasiparticle lifetimes in altermagnets
We investigate many-body effects on the spin-split electron bands in altermagnets by computing the electron self-energy arising from interactions with magnons, phonons, and hybridized magnon-phonon modes. These interactions lead to band broadening, which can obscure the intrinsic spin-splitting in spectroscopic measurements. We consider a $d$-wave Lieb lattice altermagnet as a representative example. Our results reveal that the spin-splitting remains spectroscopically resolvable and provide theoretical estimates of lifetime effects relevant for experimental detection. For electron-magnon coupling, we find a distinct difference between spectral function broadening for up and down spins close to the Fermi surface, which is not present in the case of electron-phonon coupling. We relate it to the spin splitting of the magnon modes in altermagnets. The results, including magneto-elastic coupling, are very similar to the pure magnon case. This provides insights into quasiparticle dynamics in altermagnets and contributes to the broader understanding of many-body interactions in spin-split systems. By including the temperature dependence of the self-energies, we also quantify how thermal fluctuations influence the broadening of the electronic states.
Institutions
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Published
- 2026-02-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/r3vm-m1m3
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00