Introduction

The opening chapter of Volume I, Heliophysics: Plasma Physics of the Local Cosmos, gave an overview of heliophysics that ranged from the deep interior of the Sun to the most distant reaches of the heliopause beyond the orbit of Pluto. The bottom line is that we are talking about a system, knit together by particles and fields, that displays complex behavior at scales from less than seconds to more than centuries, and meters to terameters. The heliosphere may thus appear to be an extremely enriched physical system that contains more than enough phenomenology to keep us focused on an ever-increasing supply of intriguing questions. That is why we need to find patterns in the form of universal processes.

Pure research leads to an increase in our understanding of heliophysics for its own sake. At the same time, this understanding improves our predictive abilities, which help us mitigate financial, technological, and societal impacts. Conversely, as we strive to improve our technological operations in the space weather environment, these help to advance our theoretical understanding of radiation effects and other essential physical phenomena because they drive the modeling process to be more accurate and relevant to engineering issues (see Chapter 13). Heliophysics research is one of the few examples in astronomy where such a direct mutually reinforcing and stimulating relationship is found.

In this chapter, I explore how the human experience of heliophysics has provided certain kinds of interesting boundary conditions to the theoretical modeling of heliophysical phenomenology.