GUWAHATI: Belgian particle physicist Francis Halzen has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on neutrinos and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole.
ALSO READ: EVM Glitches Reported at Multiple Polling Stations During Nagaon Bypoll
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm on Tuesday, October 6, with Halzen receiving the prize of 12 million Swedish kronor, worth around £900,000.
The Nobel Committee for Physics said Halzen was honoured “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”.
Halzen is a Vilas Research Professor and Gregory Breit Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He completed his master’s and PhD degrees at KU Leuven in Belgium.
Born in Tienen, Belgium, in 1944, Halzen played a central role in developing the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive detector designed to study elusive neutrinos. His work helped establish the detection of high-energy neutrinos originating from astrophysical sources, opening a new way of studying the universe.
Halzen first presented his idea of detecting neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988. IceCube was later developed as a giant neutrino detector buried in Antarctic ice.
Neutrinos are subatomic particles that interact only very weakly with matter. The Sun produces enormous numbers of them, with billions passing through an area the size of a fingernail every second without causing any noticeable effect.
IceCube focuses on much higher-energy neutrinos produced by violent processes far beyond the Solar System, including those occurring in distant galaxies.
The observatory consists of thousands of sensors installed on long cables drilled deep into the Antarctic ice, covering roughly a cubic kilometre of ice.
Most neutrinos pass straight through the ice, but some interact with it and produce particles that generate brief flashes of light. These signals provide clues about the direction and origins of the neutrinos and the extreme conditions in which they were produced.
The Nobel Committee said these neutrinos can act as astronomical messengers, allowing scientists to investigate some of the most powerful events in the universe that cannot easily be observed using conventional telescopes.
“Francis Halzen has led an international team of researchers and engineers who have provided us with a fantastic instrument,” said Prof Mark Pearce, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
“His tenacity and scientific vision has paved the way for a new kind of astronomy.”
