2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen for neutrino research

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 has been awarded to Belgian-born physicist Francis Halzen for his work on neutrinos, elusive elementary particles often nicknamed “ghost particles”, and for his central role in developing the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) announced the prize in Stockholm on Tuesday, recognising Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”. Neutrinos are electrically neutral particles with an extremely small mass. They are often described as “ghost particles” because they can travel through the Earth, and through the human body, almost without interacting with matter. Halzen, who was born in Belgium in 1944 and is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the USA, will receive SEK 12 million (about €1.07 million) with the prize. An observatory inside a cubic kilometre of ice Halzen first presented the idea of using Antarctic ice to search for neutrinos in 1988. The concept eventually developed into the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a detector built into around one cubic kilometre of ice beneath the South Pole. When a neutrino occasionally collides with an atomic nucleus, the interaction can produce light … The post 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen for neutrino research appeared first on NordiskPost.