Constitutive Relation
The E and D fields are related by the permittivity of the material, ε.
For linear, homogeneous, isotropic materials E and D are proportional and constant throughout the region, there is no position dependence: For inhomogeneous materials, there is a position dependence throughout the material:
For anisotropic materials the E and D fields are not parallel, and so E and D are related by the permittivity tensor (a 2nd order tensor field), in component form:
For non-linear media, E and D are not proportional. Materials can have varying extents of linearity, homogeneity and isotropy.
Read more about this topic: Electric Field, Further Extensions
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