The relation holds for systems with a single optical branch, such as cubic systems with two different atoms per unit cell. For systems with many phonon branches, the relation does not necessarily hold, as the permittivity for any pair of longitudinal and transverse modes will be altered by the other modes in the system. The Lyddane–Sachs–Teller relation is named after the physicists R. H. Lyddane, Robert G. Sachs, and Edward Teller.