Theory of Optical Activity in the Range of Short Wave Length

In contrast with conventional theories of optical activity, in which the change of electromagnetic fields over the correlation length in an optically active molecule is neglected so that the fields are regarded as uniform over that length, the present paper takes into account the effect of this change of the fields in the case of light with wave length not long enough compared to the correlation length. In result, certain new dependences upon the frequency of light comes about in circular dichroism (CD) as well as optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). For some simple models, the frequency dependences of ORD and CD are shown schematically.