The dielectric relaxation spectra of water, ice, and aqueous solutions, and their interpretation. I. Critical survey of the status-quo for water

A summarizing critical analysis is given of the present understanding of the dielectric relaxation spectrum of pure water. The author starts with a classical description of this spectrum and proceeds through the various molecular interpretations by electrostatic models (Debye, Onsager, Kirkwood, Lennard-Jones, and Pople) and by dynamic-statistical models, including their relations to infrared spectroscopy. It is concluded that there is at present no valid theory for the static permittivity or for the relaxation time