---
_id: '61279'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Spin waves represent an important class of low-energy excitations in magnetic
    solids, which influence the thermodynamic properties and play a major role in
    technical applications, such as spintronics or magnetic data storage. Despite
    the enormous advances of ab initio simulations in materials science, quantitative
    calculations of spin-wave spectra still pose a significant challenge, because
    the collective nature of the spin dynamics requires an accurate treatment of the
    Coulomb interaction between the electrons. As a consequence, simple lattice models
    like the Heisenberg Hamiltonian are still widespread in practical investigations,
    but modern techniques like time-dependent density-functional theory or many-body
    perturbation theory also open a route to material-specific spin-wave calculations
    from first principles. Although both are in principle exact, actual implementations
    necessarily employ approximations for electronic exchange and correlation as well
    as additional numerical simplifications. In this review, we recapitulate the theoretical
    foundations of ab initio spin-wave calculations and analyze the common approximations
    that underlie present implementations. In addition, we survey the available results
    for spin-wave dispersions of various magnetic materials and compare the performance
    of different computational approaches. In this way, we provide an overview of
    the present state of the art and identify directions for further developments.
article_number: '4431'
article_type: review
author:
- first_name: Michael
  full_name: Neugum, Michael
  id: '80813'
  last_name: Neugum
- first_name: Arno
  full_name: Schindlmayr, Arno
  id: '458'
  last_name: Schindlmayr
  orcid: 0000-0002-4855-071X
citation:
  ama: 'Neugum M, Schindlmayr A. Ab initio calculations of spin waves: A review of
    theoretical approaches and applications. <i>Materials</i>. 2025;18(18). doi:<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">10.3390/ma18184431</a>'
  apa: 'Neugum, M., &#38; Schindlmayr, A. (2025). Ab initio calculations of spin waves:
    A review of theoretical approaches and applications. <i>Materials</i>, <i>18</i>(18),
    Article 4431. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431</a>'
  bibtex: '@article{Neugum_Schindlmayr_2025, title={Ab initio calculations of spin
    waves: A review of theoretical approaches and applications}, volume={18}, DOI={<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">10.3390/ma18184431</a>}, number={184431},
    journal={Materials}, publisher={MDPI}, author={Neugum, Michael and Schindlmayr,
    Arno}, year={2025} }'
  chicago: 'Neugum, Michael, and Arno Schindlmayr. “Ab Initio Calculations of Spin
    Waves: A Review of Theoretical Approaches and Applications.” <i>Materials</i>
    18, no. 18 (2025). <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431</a>.'
  ieee: 'M. Neugum and A. Schindlmayr, “Ab initio calculations of spin waves: A review
    of theoretical approaches and applications,” <i>Materials</i>, vol. 18, no. 18,
    Art. no. 4431, 2025, doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">10.3390/ma18184431</a>.'
  mla: 'Neugum, Michael, and Arno Schindlmayr. “Ab Initio Calculations of Spin Waves:
    A Review of Theoretical Approaches and Applications.” <i>Materials</i>, vol. 18,
    no. 18, 4431, MDPI, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18184431">10.3390/ma18184431</a>.'
  short: M. Neugum, A. Schindlmayr, Materials 18 (2025).
date_created: 2025-09-15T16:14:59Z
date_updated: 2025-10-10T07:31:23Z
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: '296'
- _id: '15'
- _id: '170'
- _id: '35'
- _id: '230'
doi: 10.3390/ma18184431
external_id:
  isi:
  - '001580599300001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: schindlm
  date_created: 2025-09-24T07:19:36Z
  date_updated: 2025-09-24T07:19:36Z
  description: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC BY
    4.0)
  file_id: '61422'
  file_name: materials-18-04431.pdf
  file_size: 611341
  relation: main_file
  title: 'Ab initio calculations of spin waves: A review of theoretical approaches
    and applications'
file_date_updated: 2025-09-24T07:19:36Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        18'
isi: '1'
issue: '18'
language:
- iso: eng
oa: '1'
publication: Materials
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1996-1944
publication_status: published
publisher: MDPI
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: 'Ab initio calculations of spin waves: A review of theoretical approaches and
  applications'
type: journal_article
user_id: '458'
volume: 18
year: '2025'
...