Optical properties of polarizable linear micropolar fluids

Abstract

General optical behaviors of the polarizable linear micropolar fluids are investigated. The index tensor is reduced to a linear combination of deformation-rate tensor and gyration tensor. When the optical effect of the gyration motion are negligible with respect to that of the macro motion, the fluids show the same birefringent phenomena with the Stokesian fluids, and when the former is dominant, the fluids show the double circular refraction. The fluids are compared with Einstein's collid suspensions. Unless the suspended molecules have optical activity, a light propagating through the linear micropolar fluids separates into two elliptically polarized lights along the secondary principal axes of the deformation-rate quadric. The microrotatory motion affects the birefringence and the magnitude of perturbation is the second order of the concentration of the suspension.