BICEP2 2014
A strong B-mode signal had been measured. The key attribution remained open: how much could Galactic dust account for? The later dust-sensitive evidence was not yet available.
What claim was tested?
Original wording, deliberately preserved.
BICEP2 Collaboration (2014): published lensed-ΛCDM+tensor fit with r≈0.20, including the constitutive dust/foreground caveat.
What evidence state applied?
19 June 2014, the PRL publication state. Later BICEP2-field Planck 353-GHz dust evidence and the joint multi-frequency analysis do not enter this test.
What was the result?
OPEN. The attribution of the signal was not yet sufficiently closed.
Why?
The measurement itself is not disputed here. What remained unsettled was the interpretation: could the signal be securely attributed to primordial gravitational waves, or could Galactic dust account for a material part of it? The dust-sensitive checking route that could address this was not yet realized.
What does this not mean?
OPEN does not mean that the measured excess was false, that dust had already been proven, or that the tensor interpretation was retrospectively refuted. It records only what remained unsettled on 19 June 2014.
What would trigger a new test?
New dust-sensitive evidence, a joint multi-frequency analysis, or a differently formulated claim. That is exactly what happened in 2015.
Technical details · 2014
Run ID: RV1,0
P2 route: L3→L2 attribution
Localization: A3 Stability / A5 Carrier Adequacy / attribution bridge; coverage established, no certified obstruction.