Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

Altermagnetism is a recent addition to the solid-state physics vocabulary. This term encompasses magnetically ordered crystals with zero net magnetization and the splitting between spin-up and spin-down bands that should lead to several practical implications, including anomalous Hall effect and chiral magnons.In this talk, I will present the current status of observing these effects in solid-state materials. I will first concentrate on the potential metallic altermagnets and review the altermagnetic candidacy of RuO2. I will show that the very presence of magnetic long-range order in this seemingly simple and well-known material is highly controversial, and the main experimental signatures of altermagnetism should be in fact attributed to peculiarities of the band structure in the paramagnetic state. I will further address the abundant class of insulating altermagnets and the prospects of observing chiral magnons therein.