Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm11d..02l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM11D-02
Physics
[2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2760] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Convection, [2784] Magnetospheric Physics / Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions
Scientific paper
A typical approach to understanding geospace is to solve the first-principles equations for the motion of particles and for the electric and magnetic fields within the region of interest. This is the reductionist approach to space physics and has been the primary (and highly successful) methodology of our field for many decades. When only a small part of geospace of being investigated, then the researcher must assume boundary conditions for those plasma and field regions not being solved by the equation set. For many problems, this is entirely acceptable and such an approach has delivered excellent scientific results that have significantly advanced understanding of geospace. For some problems, though, this boundary condition approach is insufficient. That is, the population or region of interest can modify the boundary conditions through some system-level feedback mechanism of geospace. These feedbacks invariably relate to the flow of mass and energy through the system. The simplified regional model is no longer adequate for this problem and a larger-scale system-level approach is warranted. This presentation discusses a number of system-level problems that require full tracking of these mass and energy flows through the geospace system. This reductionist view of system-level science is then compared with analysis of emergent phenomena and the study of the geospace system’s natural complexity. The presentation concludes with ideas of how these two views of system-level science could, and in many ways should, be used together.
C:son Brandt Pontus
Denton Michael H.
Donovan Eric F.
Frey Harald U.
Lester Mark
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