In order to investigate electron dynamics near the electron diffusion region in mag- netic reconnection process, an upgrade in the linear magnetized plasma （LMP） device is accom- plished at the University of Science and Technology of China. Radio frequency （RF） helicon discharge is used to generate a quasi-stationary plasma, and a time-dependent magnetic field is applied to the plasma, which exhibits an X-type neutral point in vacuum. A two-dimensional sophisticated mobile platform is built up, providing a high spatial resolution, below 0.5 ram, for the diagnostics.
By using a one-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic （MHD） model, the Riemann problem is solved numerically for the structure of the reconnection layer under a sheared flow along the anti-parallel magnetic field components. The simulation is carried out for general cases with symmetric or asymmetric plasma densities and magnetic fields on the two sides of the initial current sheet, and cases with or without a guide magnetic field, as in various space and fusion plasmas. The generation of MHD discontinuities in the reconnection layer is discussed, including time-dependent intermediate shocks, intermediate shocks, slow shocks, slow expansion waves, and the contact discontinuity. It is shown that the structure of the reconnection layer is significantly affected by the presence of the shear flow. For an initial symmetric current sheet, the symmetry condition is altered due to the shear flow. For cases with an asymmetric initial current sheet, as at the Earth＇s magnetopause, the strengths of MHD discontinuities change significantly with the shear flow speed. Moreover, the general results for the reconnection layers in the outflow regions on either side of the X line are discussed systematically for the first time.
