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Re: [Phys-l] a magnetic filament snapped.

I am imagining a beam of magnetic lines along which protons are spiraling up, against gravity. Suppose the protons are suddenly "blow away" by something. The magnetic loop is still in existence, but without material particles in it.

a) Would this be called "snapping" of a magnetic filament?
b) I have no idea what kind of interaction might be responsible for a sudden removal of protons.

Ludwik Kowalski
Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.

On Jul 21, 2006, at 12:52 PM, Chuck Britton wrote:

from http://spaceweather.com/ (a nasa site) I read:

Yesterday on the sun, a magnetic filament snapped.

I would like to think that some of my sharp HS students might wonder
about the 'basic physics' involved here.

I like to visualize 'lines of magnetic flux' as Faraday did.
Basic physics says that these flux lines have no ends - so how can they 'snap'?

I'm pretending to have an idea about how this could be, but would
like some other input.

1st assumption: nasa's statement has some merit, at least from a
descriptive point of view.
2nd assumption: we're talking about a very complex turbulent system
of high speed
charged particles associated with this flux filament.

I can visualize a simple system that might have a bearing on this 'snap'.

Two disk magnets put face-to-face will have a 'simple' B-field around them.

If these two disks are forced apart from each other, the 'simple,
single' field will separate into two 'simple' fields. This transition
from one field to two separate fields is very complicated and I will
invoke some complex turbulence to make an otherwise smooth transition
into the 'snap'.

Totally bogus oversimplification on my part???

I like to pretend that large scale physical systems obey the basic
laws of physics and that some sort of intuitive connection is
possible. (WWFS - What Would Feynmann Say?)

TIA - Nomex underwear has been donned.