  The magnetic and thermodynamic properties of a new ferrimagnetic decorated
spin-(1/2,1) Heisenberg chain with spin-1 pendant spins are investigated for
three cases: (A) J1,J2>0; (B) J1>0, J2<0; and (C) J1<0, J2>0, where J1 and J2
are the exchange couplings between spins in the chain and along the rung,
respectively. The low-lying and magnetic properties are explored jointly by the
real-space renormalization group, spin wave, and density-matrix renormalization
group methods, while the transfer-matrix renormalization group method is
invoked to study the thermodynamics. It is found that the magnon spectra
consist of a gapless and two gapped branches. Two branches in case (C) have
intersections. The coupling dependence of low-energy gaps are analyzed. In a
magnetic field, an m=3/2 (m is the magnetization per unit cell) plateau is
observed for case (A), while two plateaux at m=1/2 and 3/2 are observed for
cases (B) and (C). Between the two plateaux in cases (B) and (C), the
sublattice magnetizations for the spins coupled by ferromagnetic interactions
have novel decreasing regions with increasing the magnetic field. At finite
temperature, the zero-field susceptibility temperature product chi*T and
specific heat exhibit distinct exotic features with varying the couplings and
temperature for different cases. chi*T is found to converge as T approaches
zero, which is different from the divergent behavior in the spin-(1/2,1)
mixed-spin chain without pendants. The observed thermodynamic behaviors are
also discussed with the help of their low-lying excitations.
