Belgian physicist awarded Nobel Prize for pioneering work tracking neutrino particles at South Pole

A sign at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ahead of the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physics, in Stockholm on Tuesday. (Tom Little/Reuters)Social SharingBelgian American particle physicist Francis Halzen was announced as the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday in Stockholm.

Halzen, 82, was recognized for "decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of ‌astrophysical origin," the award-giving body said. The observatory is located at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica.

The winners ⁠of the ⁠Nobel ‌physics prize are selected annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ⁠and receive a prize sum totalling 12 million Swedish ‌crowns ($1.7 million Cdn).

"Francis Halzen first presented his vision for capturing neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988," the academy said in a news statement. "When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus, it produces a flash of light that can be tracked by sensors in the clear glacial ice."

The IceCube, which covers an entire cubic kilometre, became operational in 2011.

Halzen, affiliated for several decades with the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S., told the academy by phone he was "delighted" and "surprised" by the announcement, which came as he was attending a conference in Italy.

Neutrinos are omnipresent, tiny cosmic particles with a mind-bogglingly small mass. They spew from stars like the sun and trillions zip through our bodies every second.

Scientists can't glimpse the mysterious ghost particles on their own. Instead, they measure what happens when the tiny particles collide with other bits of matter, producing flashes of light or charged particles.

A view of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is seen in this undated handout image. (Marc Jacquart/IceCube/NSF/Reuters)Halzen studied a rare gang of neutrinos that scientists consider messengers from the cosmos, offering clues to how the universe evolved.

The discovery of neutrino oscillations was recognized by the Swedish academy in 2015, with Canadian scientist Dr. Neil McDonald sharing in the Nobel physics prize that year.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced Wednesday, the literature prize on Thursday and the peace prize on Friday. The economics prize will be announced Oct. 12.

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind."

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Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.

The Nobel prizes are presented to the laureates on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.