Born-Kuhn’s coupled oscillator model for optical activity in ordered media

Abstract

Starting from the phenomenological electromagnetic description of optical activity we establish a formal framework in which the gyration and permittivity tensors of any ordered medium (a molecule or a crystal) can be derived using the classic Born-Kuhn’s coupled oscillator model. The model allows for an efficient parameterisation of both tensors in terms of the configurational and structural parameters (orientations, positions and coupling strengths) of a system of coupled oscillators having the same symmetries as the medium of interest. As an illustration, Born-Kuhn’s molecular models of all optically active crystal classes are established.