Plummer potential

class galpy.potential.PlummerPotential(amp=1.0, b=0.8, normalize=False, ro=None, vo=None)

Class that implements the Plummer potential

\[\Phi(R,z) = -\frac{\mathrm{amp}}{\sqrt{R^2+z^2+b^2}}\]

with \(\mathrm{amp} = GM\) the total mass.

__init__(amp=1.0, b=0.8, normalize=False, ro=None, vo=None)

Initialize a Plummer potential.

Parameters:

• amp (float or Quantity, optional) – Amplitude to be applied to the potential, the total mass. Default is 1. Can be a Quantity with units of mass or Gxmass.

• b (float or Quantity, optional) – Scale parameter. Can be a Quantity.

• normalize (bool or float, optional) – If True, normalize such that vc(1.,0.)=1., or, if given as a number, such that the force is this fraction of the force necessary to make vc(1.,0.)=1. Default is False.

• ro (float, optional) – Distance scale for translation into internal units (default from configuration file).

• vo (float, optional) – Velocity scale for translation into internal units (default from configuration file).

Notes

• 2015-06-15 - Written - Bovy (IAS)