Fractional S^z excitation and its bound state for the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic zigzag spin chain in a magnetic field

Abstract

We demonstrate that domain-wall type excitations carrying the fractional magnetization $S^z=\pm1/3$ and their bound state describe the low-energy physics around the 1/3 plateau of the antiferromagnetic zigzag spin chain in the strongly frustrated region. In particular we discuss the relevance of such domain-wall excitations to the characteristic properties of the magnetization curves: the 1/3 plateau accompanying the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the translation, the cusp singularities above and/or below the plateau, and the even-odd effect in the magnetization curve.