ln2kel

ln2kel is a compact software utility and library designed to convert between natural-logarithm representations of temperature and absolute temperature in kelvin. It is typically used as a lightweight tool for parsing, transforming and validating data sets in which temperatures are stored or transmitted as natural logarithms (ln T), a format that can appear in statistical models, certain simulation outputs and some legacy scientific data.

The name combines "ln", the mathematical natural logarithm, and "kel", an abbreviation for kelvin. ln2kel provides forward and inverse transformations, supports batch processing of tabular data, and offers options for handling units, significant figures and uncertainty propagation. It often includes safeguards for domain errors and nonphysical inputs, such as negative arguments to logarithms.

Implementations of ln2kel exist as small command-line programs and as library modules for scripting languages, enabling integration into data pipelines, analysis scripts and visualization workflows. Typical features include support for high-precision arithmetic, configurable input/output formats (CSV, JSON, plain text) and simple plugin hooks for custom unit conversions.

In practice ln2kel is valued for its simplicity and reliability in narrow conversion tasks. Its limitations stem from its focused scope: it is not a general-purpose unit-conversion suite and users handling complex thermodynamic calculations or non-standard temperature scales may need complementary tools.