On variational principles for polarization responses in electromechanical systems

TL;DR

This paper develops a unified variational framework based on EnVarA to model polarization responses in electromechanical systems, extending classical dielectric descriptions to complex, coupled physical and biological systems.

Contribution

It introduces a thermodynamically consistent variational approach that generalizes polarization modeling beyond classical dielectric constants, incorporating coupling with chemo-mechanical effects.

Findings

Unified variational framework for electromechanical polarization responses

Derivation of classical dielectric constants as outputs of the model

Maxwell equations integrated with electromechanical polarization dynamics

Abstract

Classical electrodynamics uses a dielectric constant to describe the polarization response of electromechanical systems to changes in an electric field. We generalize that description to include a wide variety of responses to changes in the electric field, as found in most systems and applications. Electromechanical systems can be found in many physical and biological applications, such as ion transport in membranes, batteries, and dielectric elastomers. We present a unified, thermodynamically consistent, variational framework for modeling electromechanical systems as they respond to changes in the electric field; that is to say, as they polarize. This framework is motivated and developed using the classical energetic variational approach (EnVarA). The coupling between the electric part and the chemo-mechanical parts of the system is described either by Lagrange multipliers or various energy relaxations. The classical polarization and its dielectrics and dielectric constants appear as outputs of this analysis. The Maxwell equations then become universal conservation laws of charge and current, conjoined to an electromechanical description of polarization. Polarization describes the entire electromechanical response to changes in the electric field and can sometimes be approximated as a dielectric constant or dielectric dispersion.