A comparative analysis of various forms of the Maxwell equations for condensed matter is presented. It is shown that the so-called Casimir form contains enough information to solve any electromagnetic problem. The Landau-Lifshitz form intended for describing media with spatial dispersion requires an additional constitutive equation for the surface current, which does not set an additional boundary condition but acts as a replacement of usual Maxwell’s continuity conditions for tangential field components.

PACS: 42.25.Bs, 42.25.Gy, 78.20.−e (all) DOI: 10.1070/PU2002v045n03ABEH001079 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2002/3/d/ 000176867200004 Citation: Vinogradov A P "On the form of constitutive equations in electrodynamics" Phys. Usp. 45 331–338 (2002) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Виноградов А П «К вопросу о форме материальных уравнений в электродинамике» УФН 172 363–370 (2002); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0172.200203h.0363