3.2.3 Subcycles

One of the big advantages of the Preisach hysteresis is that it can describe subcycles very accurately. If long term effects like accommodation are neglected, the hysteresis loop hits the operating point of the last local electric field maximum (minimum). This effect has been observed for ferroelectric [JZJ+97] and ferromagnetic materials [BSHE83] as well. In this section it will be outlined how the model achieves this.

The analysis starts right with the situation outlined in Fig. 3.9. Contrarily to the previous section, it is assumed that no turning point occurs, which means that the electric field is still increasing in size. If the electric field reaches the same value as at the first turning point $E_A$, dipole distribution and consequently polarization have to be identical. This means that each subcycle has to start and end at the same point (Fig. 3.12).

Figure 3.12: Minor loop