Numerical study of the suppression of magnetic reconnection onset with injected plasma

Abstract

In this study, we perform two simulations with different plasma injection times. These simulations use the experimental setup of double-coil target-driven magnetic reconnection. The injected plasma is introduced as an external factor influencing the suppression of magnetic reconnection. Under the influence of the injected plasma, the magnetic field cannot pile up in the current sheet because the magnetic force and thermal pressure on both sides have decreased. As a result, under the combined influence of these factors, the current sheet cannot become sufficiently thin and reconnection is suppressed. Consequently, the terms for electron inertia and the non-diagonal components of the electron pressure tensor, which contribute to the reconnection electric field, are all smaller due to a reduction of the magnetic flux in the current sheet. The study provides a plausible experimental scheme for studying the onset of magnetic reconnection in the laboratory. It may also potentially provide new ideas for investigating the onset of magnetic reconnection in different environments, such as turbulent magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetosheath.