LorentzLorenz equation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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LorentzLorenz equation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The LorentzLorenz equation, also known as the ClausiusMossotti relation and Maxwell's formula, relates the refractive index of a substance to its polarizability. The most general form of the LorentzLorenz equation is

where is the refractive index, certain crystal structures.[1][2]

is the number of molecules per unit volume, and

is the mean polarizability. This equation is only valid for

A more specialized form of the LorentzLorenz equation gives the refractive index

of a dilute gas as

where

is the molar refractivity,

is the pressure of the gas,

is the universal gas constant, and

is the (absolute) temperature.

History
The LorentzLorenz equation is named after the Danish mathematician and scientist Ludvig Lorenz, who published it in 1869, and the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, who discovered it independently in 1878.

See also References

1. ^ Introduction to Solid State Physics/Charles Kittel. - 7th ed. (ISBN 0-471-11181-3) Chapter 13, or 8th ed. (ISBN 0-471-41526-X) p. 464 2. ^ D. E. Aspnes, Am. J. Phys. 50, 704 (1982)

Born, Max, and Wolf, Emil, Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic Theory of Propagation, Interference and Diffraction of Light (7th ed.), section 2.3.3, Cambridge University Press (1999) ISBN 0-521-64222-1 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LorentzLorenz_equation&oldid=499898989" Categories: Optics This page was last modified on 29 June 2012 at 12:20. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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