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Updated: Apr 4, 2026

How to Ignite an Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma Torch without Any Additional Igniters
Published on: April 16, 2015
Explosive instability and erupting flux tubes in a magnetized plasma
S C Cowley1, B Cowley2, S A Henneberg3
1CCFE, Culham Science Centre , Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, UK ; Department of Physics , Imperial College , Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
Abstract:
The eruption of multiple flux tubes in a magnetized plasma is proposed as a mechanism for explosive release of energy in plasmas. A significant fraction of the linearly stable isolated flux tubes are shown to be metastable in a box model magnetized atmosphere in which ends of the field lines are embedded in conducting walls. The energy released by destabilizing such field lines can be a large proportion of the gravitational energy stored in the system. This energy can be released in a fast dynamical time.
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