Illustration of Magnon

1930 Magnon

The book of science

Tom Sharp


Felix Bloch electromagnetism Illustration of Magnon

Magnon

Magnetization is quantized into magnons, quasiparticles of spin waves.

Misalignments

As the temperature of a magnet is raised from absolute zero, magnons form spontaneously from the misalignments of the spins of atoms.

The vortex

Ezra Pound’s antidote to simplistic interpretations of the image is the vortex, a pattern of maximum energy through which experience flows like a rushing stream. The primary media of poetry is the image—composed of impressions irresistibly pulled into the forceful pattern.


Quantum theory shows that particles such as photons, protons, and electrons are excitations of quantum fields. From a great distance, we distinguish a star from a planet because the star has a point-like appearance, whereas a planet, in the telescope, has a diameter.

I should perhaps not be bringing Pound’s vortex into the context of the magnon, since it is more analagous to the roton quasiparticle.

See also in The book of science:

Readings in wikipedia: