Francis Halzen wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for neutrino research
publishers 17articles 18first reported 6 Oct, 09:54 UTCdeveloping since 6 Oct · 10 editions
Belgian-American physicist Francis Halzen has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a detector built into Antarctic ice to study high-energy particles from space.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm on Tuesday, honoring Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.” The academy said his work had enabled a new form of astronomy by allowing researchers to gather information about distant, high-energy cosmic events.
Neutrinos are subatomic particles with almost no mass and no electric charge. Because they travel without changing direction or losing energy, they can carry information unavailable through other particles, but they rarely interact with matter and are difficult to detect. IceCube uses light sensors embedded across a cubic kilometer of clear ice beneath the South Pole to record flashes produced when a neutrino occasionally strikes an atomic nucleus.
Halzen first proposed the observatory in 1988, and it was completed in 2011 with contributions from hundreds of researchers. The 82-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison professor said the award was a surprise and expressed hope that it would also reflect credit on those who joined the project in its early stages.
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