Interacting filamentary eruptions in magnetised plasmas

The interaction between multiple filamentary plasma eruptions is investigated by modelling the non-linear ideal MHD ballooning mode envelope equation with a mixed Eulerian and Lagrangian characterisation of the boundary conditions. The study of multiple plasma filaments is performed in a specific slab equilibrium susceptible to Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities. If the unstable system is initiated with three equal sized filaments, they erupt at the same rate, independently of each other, even in the non-linear regime. However, if one is initiated very slightly larger than the other two it causes a down-draft as it erupts upwards, which suppresses the smaller filaments. This suggests that those filaments which first enter the non-linear regime will dominate the plasma eruption dynamics.