Debye number

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The Debye number is the number of particles within a Debye sphere (a sphere of radius the Debye length). It is therefore:

\Lambda=\frac{4}{3}\pi n \lambda_D^3\,

This number is important in various ways to the way a plasma behaves. Because of its importance, it is often referred to as The plasma parameter. In order for a plasma to exhibit collective behavior, we must have \Lambda\gg 1