Amman — Belgian-American particle physicist Francis Halzen has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in establishing an observatory to track some of the universe’s most elusive particles, high-energy neutrinos, and investigate how they are produced.
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Halzen realized that ice in Antarctica could be used to detect neutrinos, sometimes known as “ghost particles” because of their ability to pass through the Earth and our bodies without leaving a trace, interacting with matter only in extremely rare cases.
Eva Olsson of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at a press conference that these particles “carry messages containing information from the universe. They open a window to distant galaxies and tell us about the processes behind exploding stars.”
The Nobel committee said the neutrino interactions recorded by the IceCube Observatory in Antarctica provide researchers with insights into how high-energy neutrinos are produced and could potentially reveal previously unknown cosmic phenomena.
“Francis Halzen led an international team of researchers and engineers who provided us with a remarkable tool,” Mark Pearce, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a statement.
“His perseverance and scientific vision paved the way for a new kind of astronomy,” he added.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics. The laureate receives a total prize of 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million), which is divided if there is more than one recipient.
The Nobel Prizes were established through the will of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel, who amassed part of his fortune through his invention of dynamite. The prizes were first awarded in 1901 and recognize achievements in science, literature and peace, with the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences added later.
Physics held a prominent place in Nobel’s will, and the prize remains one of the highest honors in the field.
Previous recipients include prominent figures in science such as Albert Einstein, Marie and Pierre Curie, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, whose work helped lay the foundations of modern physics.
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will present the Nobel medals to the laureates at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The Nobel Peace Prize, the only Nobel Prize not presented in Sweden, is awarded separately in Oslo.
