Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
It has been proposed that the Si(557)-Au surface exhibits spin-charge separation in a one-dimensional electron liquid. Two narrowly spaced bands are found which exhibit a well-defined splitting at the Fermi level. That is incompatible with the assignment to a spinon-holon pair in a Luttinger liquid. Instead, we propose that the two bands are associated with two nearly degenerate atomic chains, or a chain of step atoms with two broken bonds. Such an assignment explains why the surface is metallic despite an even number of electrons per unit cell.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Losio et al. (2001) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: