Electrorotation of dumb-bell shaped particles: Theory and experiment

The electrorotation of symmetrical doublets was calculated in the dipole approximation as a function of the polarizability of the single spherical constituents and as a function of their distance. The result was that a doublet in parallel orientation to the electric field plane undergoes a shift of the first characteristic frequency towards higher frequencies. The second characteristic was shifted towards lower frequencies. The opposite is true for a perpendicular orientation. The theoretical predictions were confirmed with red cells and pollen. The electrical interaction was larger than theoretically possible in the dipole approximation.