Semiclassical approach to spin dynamics of a ferromagnetic S = 1 chain

Abstract

Abstract Motivated by recent experimental progress on the quasi-one-dimensional quantum magnet NiNb2O6, we study the spin dynamics of an S = 1 ferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with single-ion anisotropy by using a semiclassical molecular dynamics approach. This system undergoes a quantum phase transition from a ferromagnetic to a paramagnetic state under a transverse magnetic field, and the magnetic response reflecting this transition is well described by our semiclassical method. We show that at low temperature the transverse component of the dynamical structure factor depicts clearly the magnon dispersion, and the longitudinal component exhibits two continua associated with single- and two-magnon excitations, respectively. These spin excitation spectra show interesting temperature dependence as effects of magnon interactions. Our findings shed light on the experimental detection of spin excitations in a large class of quasi-one-dimensional magnets.