Microscopic origin of the linear temperature increase of the magnetic susceptibility of BaFe₂As₂

Employing a combination of \emph{ab initio} band structure theory and dynamical mean-field theory we explain the experimentally observed linear temperature increase of the magnetic susceptibility of the iron pnictide material BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. The microscopic origin of this anomalous behaviour is traced to a sharp peak in the spectral function located approximately 100 meV below the Fermi level. This peak is due to the weak dispersion of two-dimensional bands associated with the layered crystal structure of pnictides.