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. 1989 Jul;56(1):195–205. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(89)82664-5

Birefringence of macromolecules. Wiener's theory revisited, with applications to DNA and tobacco mosaic virus.

R Oldenbourg 1, T Ruiz 1
PMCID: PMC1280464  PMID: 2752088

Abstract

We summarize Wiener's theory of the dielectric constant of heterogeneous systems and extend its application to suspensions of particles with corrugated surfaces and interstitial solvent. We retain a simple geometrical shape for the particles and account specifically for the solvent associated with the particles. We calculate the birefringence of the rodshaped Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) particle and of DNA and find excellent agreement between our numerical results and experimental values from the literature.

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Selected References

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