The problem of spin waves in itinerant ferromagnets and antiferromagnets is discussed from the band-theory point of view. In the ground state, the energy bands are spin split and there is a spin-density cloud around each ion site. When a spin wave is excited, we postulate that the spin cloud of each ion precesses as a rigid unit, i.e., a quasispin. This gives rise to a modulation of the effective exchange potential, and the difference between the modulated potential and the ground-state exchange potential has the form of the $s-d$ interaction. Here the $s$ part includes all the conduction electrons and the $d$ part arises from the precession of the quasispins. The magnon energy, electron band splitting, and the magnon-magnon interaction are discussed. In every case the agreement between the result and the experiment is as good as or better than the existing theories.

• Received 5 January 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.13.3962