Cluster expansion for the dielectric constant of a polarizable suspension

Abstract

We derive a cluster expansion for the electric susceptibility kernel of a dielectric suspension of spherically symmetric inclusions in a uniform background. This also leads to a cluster expansion for the effective dielectric constant. It is shown that the cluster integrals of any order are absolutely convergent, so that the dielectric constant is well defined and independent of the shape of the sample in the limit of a large system. We compare with virial expansions derived earlier in statistical mechanics for the dielectric constant of a nonpolar gas. In these expansions the virial coefficients are given by integrals which are only conditionally convergent.