A magnon is a collective excitation of the electrons' spin structure in a crystal lattice.
In contrast, a phonon is a collective excitation of the crystal lattice atoms or ions.
Quasiparticles and collective excitations are a type of low-lying excited state.
There is a difference in the way that quasiparticles and collective excitations are intuitively envisioned.
As this example shows, the intuitive distinction between a quasiparticle and a collective excitation is not particularly important or fundamental.
This section contains examples of quasiparticles and collective excitations.
A phonon is a collective excitation associated with the vibration of atoms in a rigid crystal structure.
A roton is a collective excitation associated with the rotation of a fluid (often a superfluid).
These low-lying collective excitations occur in magnetic lattices with continuous symmetry.
In superfluid He the elementary collective excitations are phonons and rotons.