{
  "abstract": "Altermagnetism has recently emerged as a distinct collinear magnetic phase exhibiting momentum-dependent spin-splitting despite vanishing net magnetization, as a consequence of inequivalent non-magnetic environments. Lately, it has been proposed that strong electronic correlations may yield spontaneous altermagnetism due to orbital ordering even for equivalent non-magnetic environments. While previous studies have largely focused on the electronic structure, a unified understanding of the collective excitations associated with these two different microscopic mechanisms stabilizing altermagnetism remains absent. Here, we develop an extended Kugel'-Khomskiĭ spin-orbital model on a decorated square lattice that simultaneously incorporates inequivalent non-magnetic environments and correlation-driven orbital ordering within a common theoretical framework. Employing a self-consistent mean-field spin-wave orbital-wave formalism, we demonstrate the emergence of mutually unhybridized but interdependent magnon and orbiton excitations exhibiting characteristic chiral-splitting. We show that the splitting originates from two distinct microscopic contributions: a lattice-dependent term arising from inequivalent non-magnetic environments and an orbital-order-induced exchange-anisotropy term that survives even for equivalent non-magnetic environments. The proposed framework therefore unifies the collective excitations associated with both types of altermagnetism. We further investigate the finite-temperature evolution of the coupled spin-orbital system, revealing the breakdown of spin-wave and orbital-wave approximations through spurious 1st-order transitions, while complementary classical Monte Carlo simulations recover the expected continuous 2nd-order behaviour. Our work establishes a unified microscopic framework for understanding collective magnon and orbiton excitations in altermagnets.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.10708",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Bishal Das"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chanchal K. Barman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aftab Alam"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1btfe38n40bs6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.10708",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "1btfe38n40bs6",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10708",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-SA 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.other"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.quant-gas"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.str-el"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "math-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "math.MP"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.10708",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-09",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1btfe38n40bs6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:26Z",
      "native_id": "2609.10708",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10708"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "arxiv:math-ph",
      "subfield": "mathematical-physics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.quant-gas",
      "subfield": "amo"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.other",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A Unified Theory of Collective Magnon and Orbiton Excitations in Altermagnets",
  "title_text": "A Unified Theory of Collective Magnon and Orbiton Excitations in Altermagnets",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:30Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1btfe38n40bs6",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}