Dielectric Constant of Ionised Air

Abstract

IN recent years, a large number of experiments have been carried out on the dielectric constant of ionised air with the object of verifying the Eccles-Larmor theory, which demands that the dielectric constant of an ionised gas should be less than unity. Study of the literature on the subject reveals, however, that most of the investigations are of a qualitative nature, and further that the experimental results obtained are often of an anomalous type, the recorded dielectric constant being frequently equal to, or greater than, instead of less than, unity.