Kinetic simulations of magnetic reconnection: from collisionless to collisional regimes*

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that plays an important role in the evolution of magnetized plasmas in space physics, astrophysics, and the laboratory. The dynamics of magnetic reconnection are controlled by the dissipation region. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations with binary Monte Carlo Coulomb collisions allow the study of the interplay between collisional and kinetic effects during magnetic reconnection from first principles. We present the results of PIC simulations of magnetic reconnection for a large parameter scan over system size and collisionality. We will discuss how these parameters control the reconnection rate, particle acceleration, and formation of plasmoids from the collisionless to MHD regimes. The results will then be connected to recent experiments studying magnetic reconnection in laboratory high-energy-density plasmas.