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Exotic quantum states and fractionalized magnetic excitations, such asspinons in one-dimensional chains, are generally viewed as belonging to thedomain of 3d transition metal systems with spins 1/2. Our neutron scatteringexperiments on the 4f-electron metal Yb$_2$Pt$_2$Pb overturn this commonwisdom. We observe broad magnetic continuum dispersing in only one direction,which indicates that the underlying elementary excitations are spinons carryingfractional spin-1/2. These spinons are the quantum dynamics of the anisotropic,orbital-dominated Yb moments, and thus these effective quantum spins areemergent variables that encode the electronic orbitals. The unique birthmark oftheir unusual origin is that only longitudinal spin fluctuations aremeasurable, while the transverse excitations such as spin waves are virtuallyinvisible to magnetic neutron scattering. The proliferation of theseorbital-spinons strips the electrons of their orbital identity, and we thusreport here a new electron fractionalization phenomenon, charge-orbitalseparation.

Orbital-Exchange and Fractional Quantum Number Excitations in an f-electron Metal Yb$_2$Pt$_2$Pb