How does the Hamaker Constant relate to the refractive indices of materials?

[The-Exiled]

For a pair of solute particles in a medium. The interaction is generally described by the Hamaker Constant which is dependent on the dielectric constants and the refractive indices of the materials involved.

Why is the interaction of the molecules dependent on the refractive indices of the materials? I don't see how that has any effect on the interactions.

 

[Andy Resnick]

The refractive index and dielectric constant are related to each other. However, it's important to keep in mide that the Hamaker constant is derived not only by allowing the refractive index to be complex (absorption is the imaginary component of the refractive index/permittivity) but also by allowing the frequency to become complex:

http://www.lrsm.upenn.edu/~frenchrh/feature_article.htm

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JHTRAO000100000001000155000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5F-43N1M6R-1X&_user=7774119&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1980&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1531834982&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000062847&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7774119&md5=124f451514e2f492aba1786a1a5365a4&searchtype=a

I had a really good article by some Russian dudes, can't seem to find it...

 

[The-Exiled]

Thanks for the links, it seems it was a lot more complicated than I had first thought.

Thanks for your help.

 

[lalbatros]

Complex refractive index and complex frequencies and/or wavenumbers are related.
With absorption, a wave will be attenuated leading to a complex wavenumber or a complex frequency depending on the boundary conditions.