Whenever a symmetry in the ground state of a system is broken, topological
defects will exist. These defects are essential for understanding phase
transitions in low dimensional systems[1]. Excitingly in some unique condensed
matter systems the defects are also the low energy electric charge excitations.
This is the case of skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets[2] and solitons in
polymers[3]. Orbital order present in several transitions metal compounds[4-6]
could give rise to topological defects. Here we argue that the topological
defects in orbital ordered half doped manganites are orbital solitons.
Surprisingly, these solitons carry a fractional charge of ±e/2, and
whenever extra charge is added to the system an array of solitons is formed and
an incommensurate solitonic phase occurs. The striking experimental asymmetry
in the phase diagram as electrons or holes are added to half doped
manganites[7-12], is explained by the energy difference between positive and
negative charged solitons. Contrary to existent models that explain coexistence
between phases in manganites as an extrinsic effect[13-14], the presence of
inhomogeneities is naturally explained by the existence of solitonic phases.
The occurrence and relevance of orbital solitons might be a general phenomena
in strongly correlated systems.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures include