Motivated by the recent observation of antiferromagnetic correlations in the paramagnetic phase of iron pnictides, we study the finite-temperature spin dynamics of a two-dimensional $J_1-J_2$ antiferromagnet. We consider the paramagnetic phase in the regime of a $(\pi ,0)$ collinear ground state, using the modified spin wave theory. Below the mean-field Ising transition temperature, we identify short-range anisotropic antiferromagnetic correlations. We show that the dynamical structure factor $\mathcal{S}(\mathbf{q},\omega )$ contains elliptic features in the momentum space, and determine its variation with temperature and energy. Implications for the spin-dynamical experiments in the iron pnictides are discussed.

• Received 6 October 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.155108