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

Abstract 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.