Study of Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Experiment

This paper reviews the most recent findings of the laboratory experiment which address the local physics of magnetic reconnection, and related physics issues. In particular, physics analysis of the experimental data from Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) based on the one-fluid MHD and the two-fluid MHD formulations are comparatively highlighted. Major results are: (1) Reduced magnetic reconnection rate measured with externally applied guide field (2) Experimental verification of Hall MHD effects in the Harris-type neutral sheet, with the width comparable to the ion skin depth, during magnetic reconnection, (3) Recognition of correlation between magnetic turbulence and reconnection rate, and (4) Discussions with regard to scalings for magnetic reconnection observed in MRX, particularly on the transition from the collisional to the collisionless regime. This paper also briefly discusses the basic goals and approaches of the new initiatives to study magnetic reconnection as a part of magnetic self-organization phenomena, a common frontier of both laboratory and space astrophysics research