This article reviews the main theoretical methods and experimental techniques for determining electric-dipole polarizabilities. This review only considers the lowest-order polarizability which describes the linear response of a particle to an electric field, i.e. the induced electric-dipole moment depends linearly on the applied electric field. The scope of the review is broad: it encompasses atomic, molecular and cluster polarizabilities. Both static and dynamic polarizabilities are covered. Calculational techniques discussed in detail include variational perturbational theory, the local density approximation, and semi-empirical additivity methods. Special attention is paid to basis sets used in polarizability calculations—especially the increasingly popular Gaussian basis sets. Extensive tabulations of polarizability calculations are provided for helium and sodium atoms, the diatomic nitrogen molecule, the fullerene C60, and sodium and potassium clusters. For each of these cases, the most reliable experimental results are also provided for comparison to theory. Many traditional experimental techniques are reviewed including dielectric constant, refractive index, Rayleigh scattering, electro-optic Kerr effect, beam deflection, E—H gradient balance, and the beam resonance technique. New experimental methods for determining polarizabilities such as the light-force method and atom interferometry are also extensively discussed. In addition, a novel detection scheme that is elegant and universal—the position-sensitive time-of-flight spectrometer—is thoroughly described.

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