Alteraxial Phonons in Collinear Magnets

Abstract: Circularly polarized or axial phonons possessing nonzero angular momentum have attracted considerable interest. These phonons have finite magnetic moment and can couple to internal magnetic order. The rich magnetic structures enable phonon angular momentum (PAM) to acquire momentum-space textures analogous to electronic spin structures. However, a systematic framework for classifying these textures, especially their potential higher-order multipolar patterns, has remained elusive. Here, by employing magnetic point group analysis, we develop a complete classification of long-wavelength phonons in collinear magnets. Our theory distinguishes four fundamental types, including three families of magneto-axial phonons differentiated by symmetry and the parity (odd or even) of the PAM wave pattern. Strikingly, we reveal a full sequence of axial phonons exhibiting higher-order-wave (from p- to j-wave) PAM patterns covering both odd and even parities, which we term magneto-alteraxial phonons. Our high-throughput calculations predict hundreds of magnetic candidates hosting such magneto-alteraxial phonons. We have also performed ab initio calculations on representative materials to validate the proposed magneto-alteraxial phonon spectra and PAM patterns. Our work establishes a symmetry-guided design principle for axial phonons and related phenomena in magnetic materials.