Optical characteristics of materials

1. Our brief introductory notes on optical characterization of media define different optical parameters (including the refractive index, dielectric permittivity, absorption coefficient, reflectance, transmittance) and show their relationship. Attention is also paid to the permittivity tensor arrising for anisotropic materials and the oscillator model of the permittivity. Some books for further reading are mentioned as well.
   
   
2. Our remarks on the optical constants of cosmic dust analogs diplay the situation with these constants in 2002 and, for the sake of illustration, point out several astronomical problems where they play an important role. A Postscript version of the remarks is here.
   
   
3. Our Jena-St.Petersburg Database of Optical Constants for Astronomy (JPDOC) is linked to this site. The JPDOC contains data measured in broad wavelength ranges and partly at low temperatures in the laboratory of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) as well as references to papers and links to internet resources related to measurements or calculations of the optical constants of materials of astronomical interest. A brief description of the JPDOC was printed in the A&A Suppl (the Postscript version of the paper is here). The current state (by the end of 2002) and our future plans are described in the paper printed in the JQSRT (its Postscript version is here).