Calculation of the dielectric constant of a fluid by cluster expansion methods

Abstract

Corrections are obtained to the Clausius-Mossotti-Debye formula for the dielectric constant of a fluid of polar but nonpolarizable molecules by a cluster method. The calculation shows the contributions to the moment of the sample which depend upon the size (and presumably also the shape) of the sample explicitly. A new term, not found in other treatments, is obtained in the third order of the expansion of the ClausiusMossotti function in powers of μ2 which represents the effect of the exclusion of third molecules from between a pair which is close together.