New Evidence For Spin-Charge Separation in 1D System

A new report out of an experiment on the 1D system of blue-bronze shows a severe violation of the Wiedemann-Franz Law, which is a very good indication of a spin-charge separation.

The experimental group, led by Professor Nigel Hussey of the Correlated Electron Systems Group at the University of Bristol, tested this prediction on a purple bronze material comprising atomic chains along which the electrons prefer to travel.

Remarkably, the researchers found that the material conducted heat 100,000 times better than would have been expected if it had obeyed the Wiedemann-Franz law like other metals.  Not only does this remarkable capability of this compound to conduct heat have potential from a technological perspective, such unprecedented violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law provides striking evidence for this unusual separation of the spin and charge of an electron in the one-dimensional world.

Strangely enough, the press release here made it seemed as if this is the first such instance of the violation of the Wiedemann-Franz Law. This is certainly not true since I've cited at least one other before. A quick search on Google Scholar will also reveal other previous observations.

Zz.