Theory of optical activity of crystals. I. General ideas

Abstract

The paper contains a classical description of the first order terms in the polarisability theory of optical activity. Optical activity essentially arises because the dipoles induced by the light wave in the medium are not all in the same phase. As a result of their mutual influences, the resultant induced moment will not be in phase with the electric field of the light wave and would lead to a rotation (ρ). By comparing the results calculated from the structure with the phenomenological theory of light propagation in the crystal, the magnitude of ρ is obtained. This method has been applied to a hypothetical tetragonal crystal having a spiral structure. It leads to the interesting result that the rotation at right angles to the optic axis is opposite in sign to that along the axis, as in quartz. The theory also predicts that, in general, the rotation will vary faster than 1/λ², as is found to be the case with many substances.