---
# System prepended metadata

title: 'PlasmaPy Community Meeting | Tuesday 2021 March 23 at 18:00 UT'
tags: [community, ' minutes']

---

---
tags: community, minutes
---

# PlasmaPy Community Meeting | Tuesday 2021 March 23 at 18:00 UT

[![hackmd-github-sync-badge](https://hackmd.io/jhZlpbtJSbK2jyZ7QJA9Rw/badge)](https://hackmd.io/jhZlpbtJSbK2jyZ7QJA9Rw)


### Video Conference Information
* [Jitsi video conference link](https://meet.jit.si/plasmapy) with [call-in information](https://meet.jit.si/static/dialInInfo.html?room=plasmapy) 
* Instant messaging: [Matrix](https://app.element.io/#/room/#plasmapy:openastronomy.org) and [Gitter](https://gitter.im/PlasmaPy/Lobby)
* [GitHub Minutes Repository](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy-project/tree/master/minutes)
    * ["Community" Sub-directory](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy-project/tree/master/minutes/_community)
* [PlasmaPy on GitHub](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy) ([pull requests](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy/pulls), [issues](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy/issues))
* [PlasmaPy Enhancement Proposals on GitHub](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy-PLEPs) 
* [PlasmaPy Google Calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=bzVsb3ZkcW0zaWxsam00ZTlrMDd2cmw5bWdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ)

## Agenda (please feel free to edit or add items)

1. Introductions
2. 10-15 minutes for roadmap
    * drafting [roadmap](https://hackmd.io/@plasmapy/ry0mmnj6v/edit)
3. solicit "Project Issues"
    * Need to add Distribution overhaul
    * Particle factory (issue [687](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/687)) **??**
4. Renaming `master` to `main`
5. [Status] Hackathon
6. ...
7. Issues
    1. [#1053](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/1053): Ionization naming
    2. ~~[#1078](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/1078): Add a feature freeze to release schedule~~
    3. ...
8. Pull requests in progress 
    1. [PR 923](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/923): Test Helpers #4
    2.  [PR 974](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/974): Thomson Scattering fitting
    3. [PR 978](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/978): nuclear cross-sections & rates
    4. [PR 979](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/979): Relativistic Boris Pusher
    5. [PR 1000](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1000): Paschen Curve
    6. [PR 1010](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1010): `Species` class, take 2
    7. [PR 1057](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1057): `@particle_input` refactor
    8. [PR 1062](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1062): pydocstyle
    9. [PR 1084](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1084): Chandrasekhar G function
    10. [PR 1085](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1085): Optimizing formulary functions
10. Pull requests **MERGED**
    1. ...

    
## Attendees

* Erik
* Nick
* Dominik
* Peter

## Action Items

***Erik***
> ***Continuation***
> * Open "Project Issue" on the distribution functions
> * refine roadmap for next weeks discussion
> * add OMFIT to affiliated pkgs
* Keep reviewing [PR 1000]
    * waiting on refactor before adding RTD stuff
* determine status for Khalil's old PRs
* open an Issue for a lexicon of formulary parameters...physical parameter being represented, parameter symbol, docstring description
* Create PR for speeding up `validate_quantities`

***Dominik***
> ***Continuation***
> * add feedback to roadmap items "Transport" and "Particle Tracker"
> * Write tests, check formula for [PR 979](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/979) - "Relativistic Boris Pusher"
>    * started on this
> * PR on `plasmapy.plasma.geometry` for [exact Solov'ev equlibrium with an arbitrary boundary](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1908.04449.pdf)
* Investigate GitHub Actions new contributor bot for automatically adding comments for new contributors adding a PR (or the like).
    * message to users that checks don't need to pass right away (we'll work together to get things refined)
    * how to run pre-commit `isort` and `black`
* Review [PR 923](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/923)

***Nick***
> ***Continuation***
> * add feedback to roadmap items "Workshop" and "Simulations"
* put some effort towards the dev guide
* ~~review PR 1040~~
* Take back up forming simulation working group
* Email reminder for Hackathon meeting on Friday
* Draft landing page for hack.plasmapy.org

## Minutes

* Master -> main branch name change
    * could be a headache
    * 38 occurences in the repo itself (`rg master | wc -l`)
    * RTD? other repos?
    * local remote links?
        * GitHub folks were supposed to make that easier...?
    * Nick volunteered to do it
* Hackathon
    * webpage brainstorm -- https://hackmd.io/@plasmapy/HklV-BWNu
    * Nick will be drafting the landing page
    * Erik will be structuring the main menu
    * Came up with a few logo ideas
        ![](https://i.imgur.com/uAmjnWh.png)
        * #4 seems to be the favorite
        * Logo font
            * Yanone Kaffeesatz
            * https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/383#issuecomment-383213542
            * also source for https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy-logo/blob/8c3e49c0d803210b41b9d5df05cad68864a2506b/source/logo.svg
    * Next meeting is Friday (2021-03-26) @ 12:00 EST
    * Nick will email everyone a reminder
    * more hack week stuff
        * If we use words like "user stories" then we should make sure to define them really well
        * Maybe ask for pseudocode + some description of what it's supposed to do that people can base projects off of
* Thomson scattering
    * Split up into multiple
    * Removed error analysis part — unsolved theoretical problem
    * Some changes to Thomson spectral density function to make fitting work
* [#1085 optimizing parameter functions](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1085)
    * thermal_speed
    * plasma_frequency
    * also need to go through `.si.value` at end, manual conversions at the beginning 

#  Ideas for formulary speed up by speeding up `validate_quantities`

Dominik's idea:
https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1085#issuecomment-801208198
```python
@validate
def permittivity(args, ...):
    vt = thermal_speed(T, particle, skip_checks=True)
    ...
    return result

@validate
def high_level_function(args, ...):
    perm = permittivity(some_args, ..., skip_checks=True)
    ...
    return result
```

Erik's better idea:

```python
@validate_quantities(allow_engage=True)
def f1(arg)
    ...

@validate_quantities(
    # allow_engage=False # (default value)
)
def f2(arg)
    ...

>>> f1(engage=True)
...
>>> f2(engage=False)
ArgumentError
```
