Colloquium: Experiments in vortex avalanches

The dynamics of magnetic flux vortices in type-II superconducting materials is being elucidated by experiments that investigate vortex avalanches, thermal instabilities, and intervortex interactions. This Colloquium surveys a wide variety of recent experimental results and relates them to theoretical ideas, including self-organized criticality and those from analyses of sand-pile systems. What is known about the nature and statistical properties of vortex avalanches is summarized and some open questions are posed.