# Orbiton
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{{Short description|Quasiparticle in solid state physics}}
'''Orbitons''' are one of three [quasiparticle](/source/quasiparticle)s, along with [holon](/source/holon_(physics))s and [spinon](/source/spinon)s, that [electron](/source/electron)s in solids are able to split into during the process of [spin–charge separation](/source/spin%E2%80%93charge_separation), when extremely tightly confined at temperatures close to [absolute zero](/source/absolute_zero).[{{cite web
| title = Discovery About Behavior Of Building Block Of Nature Could Lead To Computer Revolution
| url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090730141607.htm
| date = 31 July 2009
| work = [ScienceDaily](/source/ScienceDaily)
| accessdate = 2009-08-01
}}] The electron can always be theoretically considered as a [bound state](/source/bound_state) of the three, with the [spinon](/source/spinon) carrying the [spin](/source/Spin_(physics)) of the electron, the orbiton carrying the [orbital location](/source/Atomic_orbital) and the [holon](/source/Holon_(physics)) carrying the [charge](/source/Electric_charge), but in certain conditions they can become [deconfined](/source/Deconfinement) and behave as independent [particles](/source/particles).
==Overview==
Orbitons can be thought of as energy stored in an orbital occupancy that can move throughout a material, in other words, an orbital-based excitation. An orbiton propagates through a material as a series of orbital excitations and relaxations of the electrons in a material without changes in either the spin of those electrons or the charge at any point in the material.
Electrons, being of like charge, repel each other. As a result, in order to move past each other in an extremely crowded environment, they are forced to modify their behavior. Research published in July 2009 by the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) and the [University of Birmingham](/source/University_of_Birmingham) in [England](/source/England) showed that electrons could jump from the surface of a metal onto a closely located [quantum wire](/source/quantum_wire) by [quantum tunneling](/source/quantum_tunneling), and upon doing so, will separate into two [quasiparticle](/source/quasiparticle)s, named spinons and holons by the researchers.[{{cite journal
| author = Y. Jompol
| year = 2009
| title = Probing Spin-Charge Separation in a Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid
| journal = [Science](/source/Science_(journal))
| volume = 325 | issue = 5940 | pages = 597–601
| doi = 10.1126/science.1171769
| pmid = 19644117
|bibcode = 2009Sci...325..597J |arxiv = 1002.2782 | last2 = Ford
| first2 = C. J. B.
| last3 = Griffiths
| first3 = J. P.
| last4 = Farrer
| first4 = I.
| last5 = Jones
| first5 = G. A. C.
| last6 = Anderson
| first6 = D.
| last7 = Ritchie
| first7 = D. A.
| last8 = Silk
| first8 = T. W.
| last9 = Schofield
| first9 = A. J.
| s2cid = 206193
|display-authors=etal}}]
The orbiton was predicted theoretically by [van den Brink](/source/Jeroen_van_den_Brink), [Khomskii](/source/Daniel_I._Khomskii) and [Sawatzky](/source/George_Sawatzky) in 1997–1998.[{{cite journal
|author1=H.F. Pen |author2=J. van den Brink |author3=D. I. Khomskii |author4=G.A. Sawatzky | year = 1997
| title = Orbitally ordered, triangular spin singlet phase in LiVO2
| journal = Physical Review Letters
| volume = 78 | issue = 7
| pages = 1323–1326
|bibcode = 1997PhRvL..78.1323P |doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1323 }}][{{cite journal
|author1=J. van den Brink |author2=W. Stekelenburg |author3=D.I. Khomskii |author4=G.A. Sawatzky |author5=K.I. Kugel | year = 1998
| title = Spin and orbital excitations in magnetic insulators with Jahn-Teller ions
| journal = Physical Review B
| volume = 58 | issue = 16
| pages = 10276–10282
|bibcode = 1998PhRvB..5810276V |doi = 10.1103/PhysRevB.58.10276 }}]
Its experimental observation as a separate quasiparticle was reported in paper sent to publishers in September 2011.[{{cite journal
|title=Spin–orbital separation in the quasi-one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3
|date=18 April 2012
|doi=10.1038/nature10974
|pmid=22522933
|last1=Schlappa
|first1=J.
|last2=Wohlfeld
|first2=K.
|last3=Zhou
|first3=K. J.
|last4=Mourigal
|first4=M.
|last5=Haverkort
|first5=M. W.
|last6=Strocov
|first6=V. N.
|last7=Hozoi
|first7=L.
|last8=Monney
|first8=C.
|last9=Nishimoto
|first9=S.
|last10=Singh
|first10=S.
|last11=Revcolevschi
|first11=A.
|last12=Caux
|first12=J.-S.
|last13=Patthey
|first13=L.
|last14=Rønnow
|first14=H. M.
|last15=Van Den Brink
|first15=J.
|last16=Schmitt
|first16=T.
|journal=Nature|volume=485
|issue=7396
|pages=82–5
|arxiv = 1205.1954 |bibcode = 2012Natur.485...82S |s2cid=205228324
}}][{{cite journal
|title=Not-quite-so elementary, my dear electron
|date=18 April 2012
|url=http://www.nature.com/news/not-quite-so-elementary-my-dear-electron-1.10471
|journal=Nature News
|doi=10.1038/nature.2012.10471|last1=Merali
|first1=Zeeya
|s2cid=120948947
|doi-access=free
}}]
The research states that firing a beam of [X-ray](/source/X-ray) [photon](/source/photon)s at a single electron in a one-dimensional sample of [strontium](/source/strontium) [cuprate](/source/cuprate) will excite the electron into a higher orbital, causing the beam to lose a fraction of its energy in the process before it rebounds. In doing so, the electron is separated into a spinon and an orbiton.
==See also==
*[Condensed matter physics](/source/Condensed_matter_physics)
*[Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid](/source/Tomonaga%E2%80%93Luttinger_liquid)
==References==
{{reflist}}
Category:Quasiparticles
{{particle-stub}}
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Orbiton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbiton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbiton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.