Broken strand model for dielectric constant of one-dimensional conductors

The broken strand model is introduced and used to calculate the dielectric constant and the electrical conductivity of one-dimensional conductors. In particular, the large positive value of the dielectric constant observed at microwave frequencies is accounted for quantitatively. It is pointed out that the existence of a large positive dielectric constant is completely consistent with the one-electron picture that has been given recently for these one-dimensional conductors.