It was noted that, although dislocations could be seen and had the status of a physical quantity, a continuum theory of elastoplasticity could be developed without invoking the concept of the dislocation. Unfortunately, the resultant approximation was not always good; in spite of the already small size (atomic dimensions) of dislocations. It was shown here how a field theory of dislocations could be developed which took proper account of dislocational degrees of freedom.

Dislocation Theory as a Physical Field Theory. E.Kroner: Meccanica, 1996, 31[5], 577-87