Elementary Excitations in the Symmetric Spin--Orbital Model

Possible types of elementary excitations in the symmetric spin-orbital model on the a square lattice are analyzed using a spherically symmetric self-consistent approach. The excitation spectra are calculated. The behavior of the corresponding correlation functions depending on the temperature and parameters of the model is studied. A schematic phase diagram is plotted. It is shown that the thermodynamics of the system is mainly determined by elementary excitations with the entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom.