Francis Halzen is the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics. The Belgian-American physicist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been honored for his crucial contributions to the IceCube neutrino observatory and for the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.
The prize was announced on October 6 in Stockholm by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. This is the announcement of the laureate, not the actual physics award ceremony. It will take place on December 10 in the Swedish capital. The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor.
A telescope hidden under the ice
IceCube turns about one cubic kilometer of transparent Antarctic ice into a giant detector. Sensors located deep below the surface record the faint light signals that appear when neutrinos interact with the ice.
Neutrinos are subatomic particles that pass through matter with little interaction. High-energy neutrinos are extremely rare, but they can reach Earth from distant and powerful cosmic sources without changing direction. This allows scientists to study processes around objects such as active galaxies and other energy sources in the universe.
Halzen has been working on the project for more than two decades. The observatory was completed in 2011, and with its help neutrinos were discovered whose sources are located outside the solar system. The international project involves more than 400 researchers from 14 countries.
„Path to a new kind of astronomy“
The chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, Mark Peirce, said that Halzen led an international team of scientists and engineers who created a “fantastic instrument“. He said his scientific vision paved the way for “a new kind of astronomy“.
IceCube observations continue. They may provide new information about the environments in which high-energy neutrinos are created, as well as about previously unknown cosmic phenomena.
Sources: apnews.com, investing.com, nature.com