Fractional charges and spin-charge separation in one-dimensional Wigner lattices

Abstract

We study density response N(k,omega) and one-particle spectra A(k,omega) for a Wigner lattice model at quarter filling using exact diagonalization. We investigate these observables for models with short and long-range electron-electron interaction and show that truncation of the electron repulsion can lead to very different results. The spectra show clear signatures of charge fractionalization into pairs of domain walls, whose interaction can be attractive or repulsive and is controlled by the formal fractional charges. In striking contrast to a bound exciton in N(k,omega), we find an antibound quasi-particle in A(k,omega), which undergoes spin-charge separation. We present a case of extreme particle-hole asymmetry, where photoemission shows spin-charge separation, while inverse photoemission exhibits an uncorrelated one-particle band.