English

Fermion Number Fractionization

Popular Physics 2007-09-21 v1 General Physics

Abstract

Solitons emerge as non-perturbative solutions of non-linear wave equations in classical and quantum theories. These are non-dispersive and localised packets of energy-remarkable properties for solutions of non-linear differential equations. In presence of such objects, the solutions of Dirac equation lead to the curious phenomenon of "fractional fermion number", a number which under normal conditions takes strictly integral values. In this article, we describe this accidental discovery and its manifestation in polyacetylene chains, which has lead to the development of organic conductors.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0709.3248,
  title  = {Fermion Number Fractionization},
  author = {Kumar Rao and Narendra Sahu and Prasanta K. Panigrahi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.3248},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

10 pages, 3 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:19:34.742Z