Electron-Scale Reconnecting Current Sheet Formed Within the Lower-Hybrid Wave-Active Region of Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves

We present Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of an electron-scale reconnecting current sheet in the mixing region along the trailing edge of a Kelvin-Helmholtz vortex during southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. Within this region, we observe intense electrostatic wave activity, consistent with lower-hybrid waves. These waves lead to the transport of high-density magnetosheath plasma across the boundary layer into the magnetosphere and generate a mixing region with highly compressed magnetic field lines, leading to the formation of a thin current sheet associated with electron-scale reconnection signatures. Consistencies between these reconnection signatures and a realistic, local, fully-kinetic simulation modeling this current sheet indicate a temporal evolution of the observed electron-scale reconnection current sheet. The multi-scale and inter-process character of this event can help us understand plasma mixing connected to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and the temporal evolution of electron-scale reconnection.