Magnetically uplifted clumps in cooling flow clusters

We study the dynamics of magnetic flux tubes in cooling flow clusters. The cluster magnetic fields are assumed to be confined within these long tubes. The tubes are assumed to be deformed into an initial U shape, and we show that the magnetic tension forces can uplift the lower segments of the tubes to the height of the "tube feet," or even higher. For magnetic flux tubes having magnetic pressure of ≳10% of the thermal pressure, radii of 5 kpc, and with a distance of 25 kpc between the feet of the tubes, the magnetic tension can lift dense, and therefore cool, material up to ∼10 kpc above the feet. Thus, if the feet are anchored at r = 25 kpc, the magnetic tension can uplift material from r ≃ 10 kpc out to r ≃ 35 kpc, where r is the distance from the cluster center. We propose that such'a process may explain X-ray filaments and clumps that, have been found recently in the central regions of several cooling flow clusters. We discuss the effects which should be included in future calculations in order to make the model more realistic and test it against observations.