Coulomb Forces and Potentials in Systems with an Orthorhombic Unit Cell

Abstract

R. Sperb's development of the author's earlier work on summation of Coulomb fields in periodically repeated systems with a cubic unit cell is extended to systems with an orthorhombic unit cell. This permits rapid evaluation of Coulomb forces and potentials in systems other than those with a cubic unit cell. A general formula enables the Madelung constant to be calculated, as a function of the cell dimensions a, b and c.