  The Beam Energy Scan Theory (BEST) Collaboration was formed with the goal of
providing a theoretical framework for analyzing data from the Beam Energy Scan
(BES) program at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven
National Laboratory. The physics goal of the BES program is the search for a
conjectured QCD critical point as well as for manifestations of the chiral
magnetic effect. We describe progress that has been made over the previous five
years. This includes studies of the equation of state and equilibrium
susceptibilities, the development of suitable initial state models, progress in
constructing a hydrodynamic framework that includes fluctuations and anomalous
transport effects, as well as the development of freezeout prescriptions and
hadronic transport models. Finally, we address the challenge of integrating
these components into a complete analysis framework. This document describes
the collective effort of the BEST Collaboration and its collaborators around
the world.
