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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Magnetic field contribution to the Lorentz model
Kurt E Oughstun1, Richard A Albanese
1College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405-0156, USA. oughstun@cems.uvm.edu
Abstract:
The classical Lorentz model of dielectric dispersion is based on the microscopic Lorentz force relation and Newton's second law of motion for an ensemble of harmonically bound electrons. The magnetic field contribution in the Lorentz force relation is neglected because it is typically small in comparison with the electric field contribution. Inclusion of this term leads to a microscopic polarization density that contains both perpendicular and parallel components relative to the plane wave propagation vector. The modified parallel and perpendicular polarizabilities are both nonlinear in the local electric field strength.
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