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On bias of kinetic temperature measurements in complex plasmas

Author
Abstract

The kinetic temperature in complex plasmas is often measured using particle tracking velocimetry. Here, we introduce a criterion which minimizes the probability of faulty tracking of particles with normally distributed random displacements in consecutive frames. Faulty particle tracking results in a measurement bias of the deduced velocity distribution function and hence the deduced kinetic temperature. For particles with a normal velocity distribution function, mistracking biases the obtained velocity distribution function towards small velocities at the expense of large velocities, i. e., the inferred velocity distribution is more peaked and its tail is less pronounced. The kinetic temperature is therefore systematically underestimated in measurements. We give a prescription to mitigate this type of error.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Physics of Plasmas
Volume
21
Issue
2
Number of Pages
023701
Date Published
Feb
ISBN Number
1070-664X; 1089-7674
URL
http://orbit.dtu.dk/fedora/objects/orbit:129274/datastreams/file_10069e75-deed-4ee3-8660-7538c41d723f/content
DOI
10.1063/1.4864326
PId
4f25b9ce62ddb3dbf9c0ba045eb2a2b5
Label
OA
Journal Article
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