Can coronal loop transients be driven magnetically?

In this note we investigate the possibility of magnetic driving of loop transients. The action of local magnetic forces to balance gravity in a coasting loop and to confine the loop has been proposed by Mouschovias and Poland (1977). In this paper we use similar configurations but deal with the global field structure and present models which show both the initial phase of large acceleration and the later phase of almost constant velocity. We use very simple one-dimensional models consisting of a ring current which is subjected to gravitational attraction. The velocity curves calculated for these models are in good agreement with the observations. Therefore we conclude that if such ring currents can be produced fast enough in the solar corona, they are capable of driving the loop transients observed in the ATM white light coronagraph.On leave from Max-Planck Institut für Physik und Astrophysik, Föhringer Ring 6, 8 München 40, F.R.G.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.