Francis Halzen Wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for High-Energy Neutrino Research
STOCKHOLM, Oct 6 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Belgian-American physicist Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work developing an observatory capable of detecting high-energy neutrinos and tracing their origins across the universe.
Halzen, 82, pioneered the use of pristine Antarctic ice to detect neutrinos, elusive subatomic particles sometimes referred to as “ghost particles” because they pass through matter with very little interaction.
“The messengers bring information from the cosmos,” Evo Olsson of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences told a press conference. “They open the door to distant galaxies and tell us about the processes of exploding stars.”
The IceCube observatory in Antarctica detects interactions involving high-energy neutrinos, allowing researchers to study how the particles are created and potentially identify previously unknown cosmic phenomena, the academy said.
The detector consists of more than 5,000 sensors embedded in about one cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice, extending to a depth of around 2,500 metres near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
Scientists use the observatory to trace high-energy neutrinos back toward possible sources including exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts, black holes and neutron stars.
Unlike electrically charged particles, neutrinos are not deflected by magnetic fields, allowing their direction of travel to point directly back toward their source.
Halzen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, first presented the idea of detecting neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988. The IceCube project was completed in 2011.
“I have to emphasize how lucky I was because, when we started this project, everybody realized this was maybe a good idea, but very few thought it would work, including myself,” Halzen told the press conference by telephone.
IceCube has since established that high-energy neutrinos originate both within and far beyond the Milky Way, opening a broader search for the objects and processes that generate them.
Halzen said the most important scientific results from the research may still lie ahead.
“The real excitement is that I cannot answer that question yet,” he said. “This is just an introduction to the science, the astronomy is still to come.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever congratulated Halzen for what he described as a life dedicated to understanding the universe through its smallest manifestations.
The Nobel physics laureate will receive 12 million Swedish crowns, worth about $1.2 million.
The Nobel Prize in Physics has previously been awarded to scientists including Albert Einstein, Marie and Pierre Curie, Max Planck and Niels Bohr.
Halzen is due to receive the Nobel medal from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.
