Physics Breakthrough Breaks Down

Last March, we reported on the exciting results from the BICEP2 researchers who claimed they'd seen a pattern of ripples in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation that represented gravitation waves - twists and turns in the fabric of space.

These waves would have provided a huge amount of information about the earliest moments of the Big Bang.  They would have lent support to the theory of inflation, provided information for developing Grand Unified Theories and, perhaps, even been evidence for universes other than our own. However, soon after the results were released, doubts began to appear. Dr. Lawrence Krauss, Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, has written about the BICEP2 controversy and suggests that we should be able to confirm or reject the idea of gravitational waves from the Big Bang in the next year or so. Either way, this will lead to a productive new era of physics.

Related Links

• Dr. Krauss' article in Scientific American 
• Nature news article on issues with BICEP2 results
• Physicsworld article on issues with BICEP2 results
• Dr. Krauss' Quirks interview on his most recent book A Universe From Nothing