Havriliak–Negami relaxation is an empirical modification of the Debye relaxation model, accounting for the asymmetry and broadness of the dielectric dispersion curve. The model was first used to describe the dielectric relaxation of some polymers,[1] by adding two exponential parameters to the Debye equation:
where is the permittivity at the high frequency limit, where is the static, low frequency permittivity, and is the characteristic relaxation time of the medium. The exponents and describe the asymmetry and broadness of the corresponding spectra.
Depending on application, the Fourier transform of the stretched exponential function can be a viable alternative that has one parameter less (Occam's razor).
For the Havriliak–Negami equation reduces to the Cole–Cole equation, for to the Cole–Davidson equation.
The storage part and the loss part of the permittivity (here: ) can be calculated as
and
with
The maximum of the loss part lies at
The Havriliak–Negami relaxation can be expressed as a superposition of individual Debye relaxations
with the distribution function
where
if the argument of the arctangent is positive, else[2]
The first logarithmic moment of this distribution, the average logarithmic relaxation time is
where is the digamma function and the Euler constant.[3]