Spin-1 chain doped with mobile S = 1/2 fermions

We investigate the doping of a two-orbital chain with mobile S = 1/2 fermions as a valid model for Y2-xCaxBaNiO5. The S = 1 spins are stabilized by strong, ferromagnetic Hund's rule couplings. We calculate correlation functions and thermodynamic quantities by density matrix renormalization group methods and find a new hierarchy of energy scales in the spin sector upon doping. Gapless spin excitations are generated at a lower energy scale by interactions among itinerant polarons created by each hole and coexist with the larger scale of the gapful spin-liquid background of the S = 1 chain accompanied by a finite string order parameter.