The physicist told how Russia helped in the development of neutrino physics

On October 6, the Nobel Committee in Stockholm announced the name of the 2026 physics prize winner: Belgian-American theoretical physicist Francis Halzen. The prize was awarded for decisive contributions to the development of the IceCube neutrino observatory and the discovery of high-energy cosmic neutrinos of astrophysical origin.

Kravchenko explained that neutrinos are elementary particles that can travel across enormous distances, practically without changing the direction of their movement. Neutrinos also reach the Earth from the depths of space, bringing information about the processes in which they were born. Scientists study them. “Such research continues not only on IceCube, but also on other installations. In Russia, the Baikal neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD, located in the thickness of Lake Baikal, operates. Together with IceCube and other detectors, it allows one to accumulate event statistics and gradually fill in the list of possible astrophysical sources of neutrinos,” the SB RAS publication “Science in Siberia” reports with reference to the scientist.

According to the scientist, the very technique for registering neutrinos using deep-sea installations was proposed in 1960 by academician Moisei Markov and was largely developed thanks to Russian physicists. An underwater deep-sea installation, where research on neutrino detection began in Baikal, showed the possibility of using such a technique.

“The results obtained and the demonstrated technological capabilities revealed the promising nature of the method and contributed to the development of similar installations, including in Antarctica. Therefore, the success of neutrino physics has the contribution of scientists from different countries, including Russian specialists,” the specialist notes.