Get fundamental plasma physics parameters

Get fundamental plasma physics length scales, time scales, velocities, etc. using functions defined in the plasma physics formulary

Fundamental Plasma Functions - CGS gaussian units

Calculates characteristic lengths, times, velocities and frequencies relevant to plasma physics.

All inputs are in cgs gaussion units except Temperature which is in [eV]

Use cgs2SI and SI2cgs to convert between SI and cgs units

Use physicalConstants-SI and physicalConstants-cgs for values of constants

EXAMPLE USAGE:

B = SI2cgs(5,'Magnetic Field'); % Magnetic field, Gauss
n = SI2cgs(1e20, 'Density'); % Electron density [cm^-3]
F = FundamentalPlasma(); % create object
F.getElectronGyroFreq(B); % Electron gyro frequency, [s^-1]
cgs2SI(F.getIonGyroRadius(Ti,B,Z,A),'Length')) % Ion gyro radis in [m]

See TestScript.m for more examples.

Function List:

Characteristic Frequencies

getElectronGyroFreq(~,B) % Electron gyro-frequency

getIonGyroFreq(~,B,Z,A) % Ion gyro-frequency

getElecPlasmaFreq(~,ne) % Electron plasma freq.

getIonPlasmaFreq(~,ni,Z,A) % Ion plasma freq.

getElElCollFreq(obj,ne,Te) % Electron-Electron Collison Freq

getElIonCollFreq(obj,ne,Te) % Electrin-Ion Collision freq

getIonIonCollFreq(obj,ni,Z,A,Ti,Te) % Ion-Ion Collison Freq

getIonElCollFreq(obj,ne,Te,A) % Ion-Electron Collison Freq

Characteristic Times

getElElCollTime(obj,ne,Te)

getIonIonCollTime(obj,ni,Z,A,Ti,Te)

getEnergyEqmTime(obj,ne,Te,A) % Energy Equilibriation time

Lengths [cm]

getElecDeBrogLen(~,Te) % Electron de Broglie length

getClasMinApproach(~,Te) % Classic dist. of minimum approach

getElecGyroRadius(~,Te,B) % Electron Gyro-radius

getIonGyroRadius(~,Ti,B,Z,A) % Ion Gyro-Radius

getDebyeLen(~,n,T) % Debye length

getElecSkinDepth(obj,ne) % Electron Skin Depth

getIonSkinDepth(obj,ni,Z,A) % Ion Skin depth

getElElMfp(obj,ne,Te) % Electron-Electron mean free Path

getIonIonMfp(obj,ni,Z,A,Ti,Te) % Ion-Ion mfp

getElecInerLen(~,ne) % Electron inertial length

getIonInerLen(~,ni,Z,A) % Ion inertial length

Velocities [cm/s]

getElecThermalVel(~,Te) % Electron thermal velocity

getIonThermalVel(~,Ti,A) % Ion thermal velocity

getIonSoundSpeed(~,Te,Z,A,gamma) % Ion sound speed

getAlfvenSpeed(~,B,A,ni) % Alfven speed

Misc.

getBohmDiffConst(~,T,B) % Bohm diffusion const.

getTransSpitzerRes(obj,Z,T,n) % eta_perp, Transverse spitzer resitivity

getParSpitzerRes(obj,Z,T,n) % eta_perp, Transverse spitzer resitivity

getParIonViscosity(obj,ni,Ti,Te,Z,A) % Parallel viscosity [SI output]

getCoulombLog(obj,n,T) % Coulomb logarithm

getGamma(~,ni,Te)

Kinetic theory

getMaxwellDist1D(~,v,vth) % 1D Normalized Maxwellian Distribution

getMaxwellDist(~,v,vth) % 3D Normalized Maxwellian Distribution

Reference(s):

Shea, J. J. (2003). A plasma formulary for physics, technology, and astrophysics [Book Review]. IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1109/mei.2003.1178121