We investigated an emerging magnetic loop dynamically formed on the Sun, which has the effective footpoint heating source that may play a key role in heating a solar atmosphere with free magnetic energy in it. It is suggested that the heating source could be related to local compression of a plasma in the emerging loop by means of Lorentz force, which converts the magnetic energy to the internal energy of the plasma that is used to reaccelerate a decelerated downflow along the loop, eventually generating the source when the kinetic energy of the downflow is thermalized. By analyzing very high-cadense data obtained from a magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we demonstrate how the local compression is activated to trigger the generation of the heating source. This reveals a characteristic of the emerging loop that experiences a dynamic loop-loop interaction, which causes the local compression and makes the plasma gain the internal energy converted from the magnetic energy in the atmosphere. What determines the characteristic that could distinguish an illuminated emerging loop from a nonilluminated one is discussed.

To seek an atmospheric heating mechanism operating on the Sun we investigated a heating source generated by a downflow, both of which may arise in a magnetic loop dynamically formed on the Sun via flux emergence. Since an observation shows that the illumination of evolving magnetic loops under the dynamic formation occurs sporadically and intermittently, we performed a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of flux emergence to obtain a high-cadence simulated data, where temperature enhancement was identified at the footpoint of an evolving magnetic loop. Unlike a rigid magnetic loop with a confined flow in it, the evolving loop in a low plasma β atmosphere is subjected to local compression by the magnetic field surrounding the loop, which drives a strong supersonic downflow generating an effective footpoint heating source in it. This may introduce an energy conversion system to the magnetized atmosphere of the Sun, in which the free magnetic energy causing the compression via Lorentz force is converted to the flow energy, and eventually reduced to the thermal energy. Dynamic and thermodynamic states involved in the system are explained.