Low energy probes of physics beyond the standard model

Low-energy tests of fundamental symmetries and studies of neutrino properties provide a powerful window on physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this article, we provide a basic theoretical framework for a subsequent set of articles that review the progress and opportunities in various aspects of the low-energy program. We illustrate the physics reach of different low-energy probes in terms of an effective BSM mass scale and illustrate how this reach matches and, in some cases, even exceeds that accessible at the high energy frontier.