Past exam of the condensed matter physics course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 1 / e / Solution

A consistent mechanism is a transition to G-type antiferromagnetism at the Néel temperature. On the manganese primitive cubic lattice, take the magnetic moments to beEvery nearest neighbour has the opposite magnetic moment. The nuclear crystal structure can retain its original lattice constant, while the magnetic order introduces the propagation wavevectorSumming the scattering amplitude from the magnetic moments over sites gives peaks at $\mathbf{q}=\mathbf{G}+\mathbf{Q}$, where $\mathbf{G}$ is a nuclear reciprocal lattice vector. Thus all three components of the new Miller indices, expressed relative to the original unit cell, are half-integers. The two smallest squared magnitudes in units of $(2\pi /a{)}^2$ areThe first predicts $2\theta \simeq 21.29^{\circ }$, agreeing with the new ring. The next squared magnitude is $19/4$, outside the measured angular range. Taking the observed first magnetic ring as the calibration, Bragg's law predictsUsing the independently fitted lattice constant gives $41.42^{\circ }$, within the input rounding. One ring alone does not uniquely determine a magnetic order; this proposed nearest-neighbour antiferromagnetic pattern explains both the observed ring and the count of two new rings in the specified interval.