Correlation function approach to the dielectric behaviour of amorphous polymers

The equilibrium and dynamic aspects of the dielectric behaviour of polymer systems are considered in macroscopic terms and molecular terms. The role of dipole moment correlations is considered for a model polyether series. It is suggested that studies of certain copolymers reveal that the reorientation term 〈µk(0). µk(t)〉 for a reference dipole in a polymer chain is not given by a simple exponential dependence upon time. A method is given for the evaluation of the macroscopic decay function from experimental dispersion and absorption data, and this is applied to the α relaxation in amorphous polyethyl acrylate.