APS News

July 2014 (Volume 23, Number 7)

Physical Review Letters Publishes BICEP2 Paper on Possible Evidence for Cosmic Inflation

On March 17, 2014, researchers from the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP2) experiment announced that they had obtained evidence of cosmic inflation — the theory that after the big bang, the universe expanded by 60 orders of magnitude in about 10-35 second. In a paper published on June 19 in Physical Review Letters, the BICEP2 team presents their data and analysis in a peer-reviewed venue.

In addition to the BICEP2 paper, Physical Review Letters has published several theoretical analyses and a special editorial comment.  Accompanying the research papers, Physics features a Viewpoint commentary by Lawrence Krauss and a Focus article by David Lindley.

If the inflationary origin of the signal is confirmed by upcoming studies, the result will be a “milestone in the history of cosmology,” the editors note. The next chapter of the story will be written when other experiments, such as the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, release their results later this year.

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Editor: David Voss
Staff Science Writer: Michael Lucibella
Art Director and Special Publications Manager: Kerry G. Johnson
Publication Designer and Production: Nancy Bennett-Karasik

July 2014 (Volume 23, Number 7)

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Articles in this Issue
Physical Review Letters Publishes BICEP2 Paper on Possible Evidence for Cosmic Inflation
"Open Data" Policy a Cause for Optimism and Concern
Keen Minds Prep for the International Physics Olympiad
Supernova Explosions Now in 3D
2014 Kavli Prizes go to APS Members
Preparing Physicists for Entrepreneurship
Report on Graduate Education Released
Telling the History of Physics Through Historical Places
Particle Physics Panel: US Needs More Global Partnership
Members in the Media
This Month in Physics History
Education Corner
Profiles in Versatility
International News
Washington Dispatch
APS Committee on International Freedom of Scientists
The Back Page