Debye length

In plasmas and electrolytes, the Debye length (Debye radius or Debye–Hückel screening length), is a measure of a charge carrier's net electrostatic effect in a solution and how far its electrostatic effect persists.[1] With each Debye length the charges are increasingly electrically screened and the electric potential decreases in magnitude by e. A Debye sphere is a volume whose radius is the Debye length. Debye length is an important parameter in plasma physics, electrolytes, and colloids (DLVO theory).

The Debye length for a plasma consisting of particles with density , charge , and temperature is given by . The corresponding Debye screening wavenumber is given by . The analogous quantities at very low temperatures () are known as the Thomas–Fermi length and the Thomas–Fermi wavenumber, respectively. They are of interest in describing the behaviour of electrons in metals at room temperature and warm dense matter.

The Debye length is named after the Dutch-American physicist and chemist Peter Debye (1884–1966), a Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

  1. ^ Debye, P.; Hückel, E. (2019) [1923]. "Zur Theorie der Elektrolyte. I. Gefrierpunktserniedrigung und verwandte Erscheinungen" [The theory of electrolytes. I. Freezing point depression and related phenomenon]. Physikalische Zeitschrift. 24 (9). Translated by Braus, Michael J.: 185–206.

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