We propose a minimal model describing magnetic behavior of Fe-based superconductors. The key ingredient of the model is a dynamical mixing of quasidegenerate spin states of Fe(2+) ion by intersite electron hoppings, resulting in an effective local spin S(eff). The moments S(eff) tend to form singlet pairs and may condense into a spin nematic phase due to the emergent biquadratic exchange couplings. The long-range ordered part m of S(eff) varies widely, 0 ≤ m ≤ S(eff), but magnon spectra are universal and scale with S(eff), resolving the puzzle of large but fluctuating Fe moments. Unusual temperature dependences of a local moment and spin susceptibility are also explained.

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research Heisenbergstrasse 1 D 70569 Stuttgart Germany

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research Heisenbergstrasse 1 D 70569 Stuttgart Germany and Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 61137 Brno Czech Republic

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