Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering on single-magnons at oxygen K-edges

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The recent discovery that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering can probe single-magnon (SM) dispersions in transition metal (TM) oxides when the x-ray energy is tuned to the TM L-edge, has put this technique on a par with inelastic neutron scattering. It is generally presumed that selection rules forbid SM-scattering at oxygen (O) K-edges. However, based on a symmetry analysis and exact diagonalization study, we show that SM-scattering at O K-edges becomes allowed when (i) spin-orbit coupling is present in the TM d-shell and (ii) inversion symmetry at the O-site is broken. For cuprates the resulting SM-amplitude is very weak but in iridates both prerequisites can amply be fulfilled.