Regular Article

An improved formulation of Jaccard’s theory of the electric properties of ice

Horatio vzw – Koningin Maria Hendrikaplein 64d, Ghent 9000, Belgium

^a e-mail: john.zarat@gmail.com

Received: 22 January 2019
Received in final form: 8 April 2019
Published online: 17 July 2019

Abstract

In the standard derivation of Jaccard’s theory of the electric properties of ice, no fundamental distinction is made between bound and free charges. This leads to some didactical problems like the ad hoc introduction of the so-called ‘configuration vector’ Ω. However, when the two types of charges are distinguished, it becomes clear that Ω is redundant and proportional to the polarisation density. We also show that Jaccard’s formulation contains a wrong formula for the electric susceptibility and that the correct Φ factor can be derived from a straightforward kinetic approach (which Jaccard failed to do).