  As predicted by Slonczewski and Berger, the possibility of exciting microwave
oscillations in a nanomagnet by a spin-polarized current has been recently
demonstrated. This observation opens very important perspectives of
applications in RF components. However, some unresolved inconsistencies are
found when interpreting the magnetization dynamics results within the coherent
spin-torque model (CSM). In some cases, the telegraph noise caused by
spin-currents could not be described quantitatively by the CSM. This led to
controversies about the need of an effective magnetic temperature model (ETM).
Here we interpret the experimental results of Kiselev et al. [Nature 425, 380
(2003)] using micromagnetic simulations. We point out the key role played by
incoherent spin-waves excitation due to spin-transfer effects. The incoherence
is caused by the spatial inhomogeneities of the local fields, generating a
distribution of local precession frequencies. It results in telegraph noise at
zero temperature associated with transitions between attraction wells in phase
space.
