Denser Plasma Shortens Shielding Length - Plasma Physics: Debye Shielding, Gyromotion, and Collective Oscillations Step by Step

Holding the scale fixed, density divides the squared length. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

The baseline density sets the reference length

Scale squared 12 square meters divided by density ratio 3 gives shielding length squared 4 square meters.

\lambda^{2}=\frac{12\ \text{m}^{2}}{3}=4\ \text{m}^{2}

A denser plasma shortens the shielding length

With the same scale squared 12 and density ratio 6, the length squared drops to 2 square meters.

\frac{12}{6}=2\ \text{m}^{2}