Laboratory simulation of arched magnetic flux rope eruptions in the solar atmosphere.

Dramatic eruption of an arched magnetic flux rope in a large ambient plasma has been studied in a laboratory experiment that simulates coronal loops. The eruption is initiated by laser generated plasma flows from the footpoints of the rope that significantly modify the magnetic-field topology and link the magnetic-field lines of the rope with the ambient plasma. Following this event, the flux rope erupts by releasing its plasma into the background. The resulting impulse excites intense magnetosonic waves that transfer energy to the ambient plasma and subsequently decay.