Non-collinear spin in electronic structure calculations

Non-collinear spin materials are an exciting class of materials that are of great interest from both a fundamental materials science point of view and also with their possible applications in energy-efficient technological devices. Here we introduce non-collinear magnetism, in particular how to describe the electronic structure of materials with non-collinear magnetically ordered spin structures giving insight as to why it happens. Additionally, the use of electronic structure calculations is ubiquitous in current materials science research, commonly used by both theoretical and experimental researchers; we, therefore, detail how non-collinear magnetism is incorporated into the most commonly used electronic structure method, density functional theory.