Electromagnetic field-current coupling in rigid polarized conductors

A continuum model, based on a theory of electromagnetic media with microstructure, is exploited to deal with rigid conductors endowed with polarization and magnetization. Charge carriers are considered as a continuum superimposed to the microstructured conductor where the density of bound charges depends on the internal degrees of freedom of the continuum particle. The non-linear dynamical model is formulated, deriving the mechanical balance laws that are coupled with the electromagnetic field equations. A reduction to the micropolar linear case is performed in order to analyze admissible solutions in the form of one-dimensional plane waves. Dispersion equations are derived for modes pertaining to longitudinal and transverse fields and the effects of conductivity and polarization are evidentiated. Polariton modes, arising from the dynamics of microdeformation, are also discussed.