Dynamics and inertia of a skyrmion in chiral magnets and interfaces: A linear response approach based on magnon excitations

Taking all the magnon modes into account, we derive the skyrmion dynamics in response to a weak external drive. A skyrmion has rotational symmetry, and the magnon modes can be characterized by an angular momentum. For a weak distortion of a skyrmion, only the magnon modes with an angular momentum |m|=1 govern the dynamics of skyrmion topological center. The skyrmion inertia is determined by the magnon modes in the continuum spectrum. For a skyrmion driven by a magnetic field gradient or by a spin transfer torque generated by a current, the dynamical response is practically instantaneous. This justifies the rigid skyrmion approximation used in Thiele's collective coordinate approach. For a skyrmion driven by a spin Hall torque, the torque couples to the skyrmion motion through the magnons in the continuum and damping; therefore the skyrmion dynamics shows sizable inertia in this case. The trajectory of a skyrmion is an ellipse for an ac drive of spin Hall torque.