Electric Polarization of Onsager Fluids. II. Birefringence. 1. Kerr Constants of Pure Substances

The Kerr constants of pure liquid organic compounds, which exhibit weak intermolecular interactions and possess widely varying electric, optical and polarizational molecular parameters, were computed from the data on dielectrometry and electric birefringence. Good agreement of the calculated and observed values was reached as the result of the introduction of the local field model, which develops the concepts of reactive field and local electric induction of a polarized fluid, into the orientational theory of the Kerr effect.