beta
- plasmapy.formulary.dimensionless.beta(T: Quantity, n: Quantity, B: Quantity) Quantity [source]
Compute the ratio of thermal pressure to magnetic pressure.
The beta (\(β\)) of a plasma is defined by
\[β = \frac{p_{th}}{p_{mag}}\]where \(p_{th}\) is the thermal pressure of the plasma and \(p_{mag}\) is the magnetic pressure of the plasma.
- Parameters:
Examples
>>> import astropy.units as u >>> beta(1 * u.eV, 1e20 * u.m**-3, 1 * u.T) <Quantity 4.0267...e-05> >>> beta(8.8e3 * u.eV, 1e20 * u.m**-3, 5.3 * u.T) <Quantity 0.01261...>
- Returns:
beta – Dimensionless quantity.
- Return type:
See also