A condition imposed on the electromagnetic polarizability of a bianisotropic lossless scatterer

In the dipole and local field approximations, electromagnetic scatterers are modeled in terms of the polarizability tensor. The matrix elements of this tensor, which are determined by the scatterer geometry, are complex even in the absence of losses in the material. There is a criterion that the polarizability tensor must obey if the scatterers possess no dissipative losses. This condition, derived here for bianisotropic scatterers, can be applied to analytical modeling of periodic structures composed of such scattering inclusions. (C) 2003 MAIK Nauka / Interperiodica.