Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: I outline a modern theory of the macroscopic polarization P in crystalline dielectrics. While P itself is not an observable, the polarization difference Δ P between any two crystal states can be measured, defined and calculated as a bulk material property: the root of this fact lies in a geometric quantum phase. In general, Δ P cannot be recovered from periodic charge densities , where any phase information is deleted: dielectric polarization is in fact a quantum phenomenon, governed by a gauge-invariant phase feature of the crystal wave functions .
Source: Europhysics Letters (EPL)
Author: R Resta
Institution: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2041331368