bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions

Tokamak plasma collision formulae.

Functions

debye_length(→ float)

Debye length

reduced_mass(→ float)

Calculate the reduced mass of a two-particle system

thermal_velocity(→ float)

de_broglie_length(→ float)

Calculate the de Broglie wavelength

impact_parameter_perp(→ float)

Calculate the perpendicular impact parameter, a.k.a. b90

coulomb_logarithm(→ float)

Calculate the value of the Coulomb logarithm for an electron hitting a proton.

spitzer_conductivity(→ float)

Formula for electrical conductivity in a plasma as per L. Spitzer.

Module Contents

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.debye_length(temperature: float, density: float) float

Debye length

Parameters:
  • temperature (float) – Temperature [K]

  • density (float) – Density [m^-3]

Returns:

Debye length [m]

Return type:

float

Notes

Debye length is given by the formula:

\[\lambda_D = \sqrt{\frac{\varepsilon_0 k_B T}{n e^2}}\]

where:

  • \(\varepsilon_0\) is the vacuum permittivity,

  • \(k_B\) is the Boltzmann constant,

  • \(T\) is the temperature in Kelvin,

  • \(n\) is the number density of particles,

  • \(e\) is the elementary charge.

The conversion of the temperature from Kelvin to Joules implicitly includes the Boltzmann constant (\(k_B\)).

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.reduced_mass(mass_1: float, mass_2: float) float

Calculate the reduced mass of a two-particle system

Parameters:
  • mass_1 (float) – Mass of the first particle

  • mass_2 (float) – Mass of the second particle

Returns:

Reduced mass

Return type:

float

Notes

Reduced mass of a two-particle system :

\[\mu_{AB} = \frac{m_A m_B}{m_A + m_B}\]

where \(m_A\) and \(m_B\) are the masses of the particles.

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.thermal_velocity(temperature: float, mass: float) float
Parameters:
  • temperature (float) – Temperature [K]

  • mass (float) – Mass of the particle [kg]

Returns:

Thermal velocity [m/s]

Return type:

float

Notes

The thremal velocity is calculated as

\[\sqrt{\frac{2 k_B T}{m}}\]

The conversion of the temperature from Kelvin to Joules implicitly includes the Boltzmann constant ( \(k_B\) ).

The \(\sqrt 2\) term is for a 3-dimensional system and the most probable velocity in the particle velocity distribution.

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.de_broglie_length(velocity: float, mu_12: float) float

Calculate the de Broglie wavelength

Parameters:
  • velocity (float) – Velocity [m/s]

  • mu_12 (float) – Reduced mass [kg]

Returns:

De Broglie wavelength [m]

Return type:

float

Notes

The de Broglie length is given by

\[\lambda_{th} = \frac{h}{2 \cdot \mu_{12} \cdot velocity}\]

where \(h\) is the Planck Constant.

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.impact_parameter_perp(velocity: float, mu_12: float) float

Calculate the perpendicular impact parameter, a.k.a. b90

Parameters:
  • velocity (float) – Velocity [m/s]

  • mu_12 (float) – Reduced mass [kg]

Returns:

Perpendicular impact parameter [m]

Return type:

float

Notes

\[b_{90} = \frac{e^2}{4 \pi \epsilon_0 \mu_{12} v^2}\]

where:

  • \(e\) is the elementary charge (absolute charge of an electron)

  • \(\epsilon_0\) is the vacuum permittivity,

  • \(\mu_{12}\) is the reduced mass,

  • \(v\) is the relative velocity.

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.coulomb_logarithm(temperature: float, density: float) float

Calculate the value of the Coulomb logarithm for an electron hitting a proton.

Parameters:
  • temperature (float) – Temperature [K]

  • density (float) – Density [1/m^3]

Returns:

Coulomb logarithm value

Return type:

float

Notes

The Coulomb logarithm is calculated using the formula:

\[\ln{\Lambda} = \ln{\left(1 + \left(\frac{\lambda_{Debye}} {b_{min}}\right)^2\right)^{1/2}}\]

where:

\(\lambda_{Debye}\) is the Debye length,

\(b_{min}\) is the minimum impact parameter, which is defined as the maximum value between \(b_{90}\) (the perpendicular impact parameter) and the de Broglie wavelegth \(\lambda_{th}\)

bluemira.plasma_physics.collisions.spitzer_conductivity(Z_eff: float, T_e: float, ln_lambda: float) float

Formula for electrical conductivity in a plasma as per L. Spitzer.

Parameters:
  • Z_eff (float) – Effective charge [dimensionless]

  • T_e (float) – Electron temperature on axis [keV] The equation takes in temperature as [eV], so an in-line conversion is used here.

  • ln_lambda (float) – Coulomb logarithm value

Returns:

Plasma resistivity [1/Ohm/m]

Return type:

float

Notes

Spitzer and Haerm, 1953

\(\sigma = 1.92e4 (2-Z_{eff}^{-1/3}) \dfrac{T_{e}^{3/2}}{Z_{eff}ln\Lambda}\)