Solitons in Polyacetylene

We present a theoretical study of soliton formation in long-chain polyenes, including the energy of formation, length, mass, and activation energy for motion. The results provide an explanation of the mobile neutral defect observed in undoped (CH) ₗ. Since the soliton formation energy is less than that needed to create band excitation, solitons play a fundamental role in the charge-transfer doping mechanism.