Francis Halzen wins Nobel Physics Prize for Antarctic ghost particle research

Physicist Francis Halzen has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm, France 24 and Al Jazeera reported. Halzen was recognized for his work creating an Antarctic observatory that tracks subatomic particles known as neutrinos or ghost particles. [1][2][5]

Al Jazeera reported that Halzen played a central role in building the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica to capture neutrinos from deep space. The interactions collected by the observatory provide critical information on how the universe evolved. [2]

Halzen is a Belgian-American particle physicist who serves as the Hilldale and Gregory Breit Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He is the Principal Investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which has been operational since 2010. Halzen earned his PhD at KU Leuven in 1969 and joined the University of Wisconsin as a research associate in 1971. [14][16]

The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for outstanding contributions in physics. It is one of five prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. [13]