  Relaxation effects are of primary importance in the description of magnetic
excitations, leading to a myriad of methods addressing the phenomenological
damping parameters. In this work, we consider several well-established forms of
calculating the intrinsic Gilbert damping within a unified theoretical
framework, mapping out their connections and the approximations required to
derive each formula. This scheme enables a direct comparison of the different
methods on the same footing and a consistent evaluation of their range of
validity. Most methods lead to very similar results for the bulk ferromagnets
Fe, Co and Ni, due to the low spin-orbit interaction strength and the absence
of the spin pumping mechanism. The effects of inhomogeneities, temperature and
other sources of finite electronic lifetime are often accounted for by an
empirical broadening of the electronic energy levels. We show that the
contribution to the damping introduced by this broadening is additive, and so
can be extracted by comparing the results of the calculations performed with
and without spin-orbit interaction. Starting from simulated ferromagnetic
resonance spectra based on the underlying electronic structure, we
unambiguously demonstrate that the damping parameter obtained within the
constant broadening approximation diverges for three-dimensional bulk magnets
in the clean limit, while it remains finite for monolayers. Our work puts into
perspective the several methods available to describe and compute the Gilbert
damping, building a solid foundation for future investigations of magnetic
relaxation effects in any kind of material.
