  Elementary particles such as the electron carry several quantum numbers, for
example, charge and spin. However, in an ensemble of strongly interacting
particles, the emerging degrees of freedom can fundamentally differ from those
of the individual constituents. Paradigmatic examples of this phenomenon are
one-dimensional systems described by independent quasiparticles carrying either
spin (spinon) or charge (holon). Here we report on the dynamical deconfinement
of spin and charge excitations in real space following the removal of a
particle in Fermi-Hubbard chains of ultracold atoms. Using space- and
time-resolved quantum gas microscopy, we track the evolution of the excitations
through their signatures in spin and charge correlations. By evaluating
multi-point correlators, we quantify the spatial separation of the excitations
in the context of fractionalization into single spinons and holons at finite
temperatures.
