Excitation hierarchy of the quantum sine-gordon spin chain in a strong magnetic field.

The magnetic excitation spectrum of copper pyrimidine dinitrate, a material containing S = 1 / 2 antiferromagnetic chains with alternating g tensor and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and exhibiting a field-induced spin gap, is probed using submillimeter wave electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Ten excitation modes are resolved in the low-temperature spectrum, and their frequency-field diagram is systematically studied in magnetic fields up to 25 T. The experimental data are sufficiently detailed to make a very accurate comparison with predictions based on the quantum sine-Gordon field theory. Signatures of three breather branches and a soliton, as well as those of several multiparticle excitation modes, are identified.