Modeling experimental reconnection with multidimensional kinetic simulations: latest results from TREX and Cylindrical VPIC

The Terrestrial Reconnection EXperiment (TREX) at the Wisconsin Plasma Physics Laboratory (WiPPL) creates and measures different reconnection geometries in collisionless plasmas, with the aim of understanding the reconnection mechanisms of low-density space environments. Work on TREX is supplemented by kinetic simulations using Cylindrical VPIC, a particle-in-cell code developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. VPIC simulations of TREX work in tandem with laboratory experiments, such that each provide feedback that shapes the designs and objectives of the other. So far, TREX data and simulations have shown agreements in layer width [1] and reconnection rate [2]; further work on modeling TREX’s new drive cylinder, both antiparallel and otherwise, is ongoing. Early analysis shows the formation of magnetized outflow jets in both TREX experimental and simulation data in a guide-field configuration. This matching implies further similarity in both systems when examining the different terms of Ohm’s Law; in this manner, Cylindrical VPIC should be able to verify and expand on the results from TREX’s new pressure anisotropy probe. Further comparisons of TREX experimental and simulation data will also be presented.