The solar wind: Our current understanding and how we got here

In the original theory for the solar wind, the electron pressure gradient was the principal accelerating force. This was soon recognized to be insufficient to drive the high-speed streams. Subsequently, the discovery of Alfven waves in the solar wind led to a long series of models in which wave pressure provided additional acceleration, but these wave-driven models ultimately failed to explain the rapid acceleration of the fast wind close to the Sun. An alternate view was that the pressure of hot protons close to the Sun could explain the rapid acceleration, with the proton heating coming from the cyclotron resonance. SOHO has provided remarkable data which have verified some of the predictions of this view, and given impetus to ongoing studies of the ion-cyclotron resonance in the fast wind. After a historical review, we discuss the basic ideas behind current research, emphasizing the importance of particle kinetics. We conclude with some guesses as to how work might proceed in the future.