Laboratory Realization of Magnetopause-Like Reconnection in Space Plasma Environment Research Facility (SPERF)

Magnetic reconnection explosively converts magnetic energy into plasma heating and particle acceleration. At Earth's magnetopause, reconnection governs solar wind-magnetosphere coupling and drives global convection. Understanding these processes requires resolving reconnection's spatiotemporal evolution, which is difficult for in situ observations but achievable in laboratory experiments. However, building a geometry like the real magnetopause in laboratory remains a key challenge. Here, we present the first laboratory experiment at the Space Plasma Environment Research Facility trying to replicates Earth's magnetopause configuration. Using a dipole magnet (mimicking magnetosphere) and coaxial flux cores (simulating solar wind), we establish a magnetopause-like current sheet via dynamic plasma compression. Measured Hall magnetic fields confirm Hall reconnection, transitioning from an asymmetric multiple x-lines state to a symmetric single x-line state. This dynamic evolution will impact global energy conversion and transport at magnetopause.