reduce_bimaxwellian_temperature

plasmapy.diagnostics.langmuir.reduce_bimaxwellian_temperature(T_e: Unit("eV"), hot_fraction: float) -> Unit("eV")

Reduce a bi-Maxwellian (dual) temperature to a single mean temperature for a given fraction.

Parameters:
  • T_e (Quantity, ndarray) – The bi-Maxwellian temperatures in eV. If a single temperature is provided, this is returned.
  • hot_fraction (float) – Fraction of hot to total population. If this parameter is None the temperature is assumed to be singular Maxwellian.
Returns:

T_e – The reduced (mean) temperature in units of eV.
Return type:

Quantity

Notes

This function aids methods that take a single electron temperature in situations where the electron population is bi-Maxwellian. The reduced temperature is obtained as the weighted mean:

\[T_{e,red} = T_c \left( 1 - f_h \right) + T_h f_h\]