Field theory of structured liquid dielectrics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive field-theoretic framework for modeling the complex non-local and non-linear electrostatic responses of structured liquid dielectrics, incorporating solvent and ion interactions systematically.

Contribution

It develops a novel theoretical approach using two order parameters to describe structured liquid dielectrics, enabling derivation of generalized polarization theories and analysis of solution behaviors.

Findings

Derived functionals for polarization and electrostatic fields at multiple scales

Established criteria for solution character based on structural lengths and solvent polarity

Solved mean-field equations in the linear response regime

Abstract

We develop of a field-theoretic approach for the treatment of both the non-local and the non-linear response of structured liquid dielectrics. Our systems of interest are composed of dipolar solvent molecules and simple salt cations and anions. We describe them by two independent order parameters, the polarization field for the solvent and the charge density field for the ions, including and treating the non-electrostatic part of the interactions explicitly and consistently. We show how to derive functionals for the polarization and the electrostatic field of increasingly finer scales and solve the resulting mean-field saddle-point equations in the linear regime. We derive criteria for the character of their solutions that depend on the structural lengths and the polarity of the solvent. Our approach provides a systematic way to derive generalized polarization theories.