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Hidden ferromagnetism of centrosymmetric antiferromagnets

I. V. Solovyev*

  • *Contact author: solovyev.igor@nims.go.jp
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 154413 – Published 15 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/myy9-7pm5

Abstract

The time-reversal symmetry (T) breaking is a signature of ferromagnetism, giving rise to such phenomena as the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and orbital magnetism. Nevertheless, T can also be broken in certain classes of antiferromagnets, such as weak ferromagnets or altermagnets, which remain invariant under spatial inversion. In light of this similarity with ferromagnetism, it is tempting to ask whether such an unconventional antiferromagnetic (AFM) state can be represented as the simplest ferromagnetic one, i.e., within the minimal unit cell containing only one magnetic site. We show that such a representation is possible due to a special form of the spin-orbit (SO) interaction in an antipolar lattice hosting this AFM state. The inversion symmetry constrains the form of the SO interaction, which becomes invariant under the symmetry operation {S|t}, combining the 180∘ rotation of spins (S) with the lattice shift t, connecting two antiferromagnetically coupled sublattices. This is the fundamental symmetry property of centrosymmetric antiferromagnets, which justifies the use of the generalized Bloch theorem and transformation to the local coordinate frame with one magnetic site per cell. It naturally explains the emergence of AHE and net orbital magnetization, and provides transparent expressions for these properties in terms of the electron hoppings and SO interaction operating between AFM sublattices, as well as the orthorhombic strain, controlling the piezomagnetic response. The idea is illustrated on a number of examples including a two-dimensional square lattice, monoclinic VF4 and CuF2, and RuO2-type materials with the rutile structure, using for these purposes realistic models derived from first-principles calculations.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 154413– Published 15 September, 2026
  • Received 11 September 2025
  • Revised 28 July 2026
  • Accepted 13 August 2026
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