Nobel prize in physics awarded for discovery of high-energy neutrinos

Francis Halzen at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has won the 2026 Nobel prize in physics for his work on detecting ghostly particles called neutrinos using a detector at the South Pole.

Neutrinos are subatomic particles that rarely interact with material, and are electrically neutral. We can detect neutrinos that originated far away in the cosmos and learn about the nature of the universe. If you build a neutrino collector 1 cubic kilometre in size, you’d detect one per day. Halzen proposed in 1988 to use the Antarctic ice as a neutrino detector.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory uses thousands of light sensors buried 2 kilometres under the surface of the ice, in deep holes drilled using hot water. Neutrinos interact with the light sensor and allow scientists to trace their trajectory back to their origin point. 

Halzen has spearheaded an international collaboration of more than 450 people from 58 institutions in 14 countries to make the IceCube a reality. It was completed in 2011 and the first neutrinos were detected just two years later.

“It was a great surprise and I didn’t expect it,” said Halzen, addressing the press conference by phone. “It’s a great pleasure.”

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