Spin Wave Dynamics of 2D and 3D Heisenberg Antiferromagnets

The excitations of the 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnet, $Rb_2MnF_4$, were studied using neutron scattering techniques with the MAPS spectrometer at the ISIS facility of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Measurements were made of the magnetic excitations over the whole 2D Brillouin zone at 6 temperatures below the ordering temperature of 38 K and 6 temperatures above. It was found that the excitations were well defined if their wave vectors were larger than the inverse correlation length and were overdamped if the wave vectors of the excitations were smaller than the inverse correlation length. In more detail we have compared our experimental results with the results of classical simulations and the results gave a very adequate description of the experimental results except at the lowest temperature where the form of the dispersion relation was correct but the energies of the excitations were in error. Nevertheless, classical simulations do provide an efficient and easily implemented methodology for modelling the excitations in the Heisenberg magnets. The damping of the excitations was experimentally found to follow a $T^2$ behaviour over all wave vector and energy scales. This is in agreement with the classical simulations but inconsistent with analytic theories of the damping for the 2D Heisenberg model and in particular does not agree with hydrodynamic behaviour or dynamic scaling. The result is similar to that found in 3D Heisenberg systems and suggests that more analytic theory is needed to explain the experimental results for both 2D and 3D Heisenberg magnets.