Diëlectric

Linear diëlectric

A linear diëlectric is a material whose electric polarization density is proportional to the electric field¹, i.e.

where is the empirically determined electric susceptibility. The permittivity of a linear diëlectric is then

and the Electric displacement is given by

Homogenous linear diëlectric

In case a volume is occupied by a homogenous linear diëlectic, i.e. one with constant , we have

hence if there is no free charge there is also no bound charge, and Laplace’s equation will hold for within .

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Footnotes

1. Note that is the total electric field, including that caused by the polarized material itself. ↩