Spin-charge separation in two-dimensional frustrated quantum magnets

The dynamics of a mobile hole in two-dimensional frustrated quantum magnets is investigated by exact diagonalization techniques. Our results provide evidence for spin-charge separation upon doping the kagome lattice, a prototype of a spin liquid. In contrast, in the checkerboard lattice, a symmetry broken valence bond crystal, a small quasiparticle peak is seen for some crystal momenta, a finding interpreted as a restoration of weak holon-spinon confinement.