Dynamic electric polarizability 2026-10-18
The dynamic electric polarizability relates the induced electric dipole moment at a driving frequency to the applied electric field at that frequency in linear response theory. A complex coefficient can encode both a dispersive phase and absorption. For a charged one-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator with charge magnitude , mass , and natural frequency , the undamped response isOne derivation uses the oscillator electric-dipole selection rule and first-order time-dependent perturbation theory. The same result follows from the classical Lorentz oscillator model: and imply . At exact resonance there is no bounded periodic response without damping; a finite switch-on produces secular growth rather than a finite steady-state value of the pole expression.
Linear response theory 2026-10-18
Linear response theory describes a system's small change in an observable to first order in an applied perturbation. The approximation requires a stated reference state and a range of sufficiently small perturbations.