thermal_deBroglie_wavelength

plasmapy.physics.quantum.thermal_deBroglie_wavelength(T_e)

Calculate the thermal deBroglie wavelength for electrons.

Parameters:

T_e (Quantity) – Electron temperature.

Returns:

lambda_dbTh – The thermal deBroglie wavelength for electrons in meters.

Return type:

Quantity

Raises:

• TypeError – If argument is not a Quantity.
• UnitConversionError – If argument is in incorrect units.
• ValueError – If argument contains invalid values.

Warns:

~astropy.units.UnitsWarning – If units are not provided, SI units are assumed.

Notes

The thermal deBroglie wavelength is approximately the average deBroglie wavelength for electrons in an ideal gas and is given by

\[\lambda_dbTh = \frac{h}{\sqrt{2 \pi m_e k_B T_e}}\]

Example

>>> from astropy import units as u
>>> thermal_deBroglie_wavelength(1 * u.eV)
<Quantity 6.91936752e-10 m>