Gauge theory applied to magnetic lattices

Abstract

Abstract The generalizations of micromagnetic exchange including higher order interactions are normally performed phenomenologically. In this paper we combine graph and gauge field theory to provide a new procedure to perform the continuum limit of the Heisenberg model. Our approach allows to simultaneously account for the symmetries of the crystal, the effect of spin-orbit coupling and their interplay. We obtain a micromagnetic theory accounting for the crystal symmetry constraints at all orders in exchange. The form of the micromagnetic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in all 32 point groups is calculated at the first order.