Motivated by the coil-target magnetic reconnection experiment and the onset issue of magnetic reconnection, we investigate the onset of magnetic reconnection with PIC simulations. In this study, we perform two simulations that use the experimental setup of double-coil target-driven magnetic reconnection. The simulations add the injected plasma from both sides but at different injection times. The injected plasma is introduced as an external factor influencing the onset of magnetic reconnection. Under the influence of the injected plasma, the magnetic field cannot pile up in the current sheet because the magnetic force, thermal pressure, and total force on both sides have decreased. As a result, the current sheet cannot become sufficiently thin under the combined influence of these factors, and the 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.

magnetic reconnection,PIC,simualtion,onset