Electrostatic potential in cylindrical dielectric media using the image charge method

Abstract

We derive a simple analytical expression for the electric potential produced by a point charge in a cylindrical pore with relative permittivity different from that of the surrounding medium. The interface between the pore and the surrounding media may contain electric charge or be electrically neutral. The expression reduces to the known solutions when the surrounding dielectric medium is identical to the pore or an electric conductor. We discuss the convergence of the series expansion and numerically evaluate the electrostatic potential inside the cylindrical pore. The calculated potential shows the effect of the dielectric permittivity difference of the media. The results demonstrate that the expression can be implemented in a numerical dynamic simulation of charged systems in cylindrical geometry. We also give an expression for the case when the source charge is in the medium outside the cylinder.

Keywords:

• Image charge method
• Cylindrical dielectric media
• Electrostatic potential