The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Francis Halzen for his work on neutrinos

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded this Tuesday, October 6 to Francis Halzen. An award for his “decisive contributions to the IceCube neutrino observatory and to the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin,” the organization awarding the prize announced on Tuesday.

“It’s a big surprise, I certainly didn’t expect it,” reacted the 82-year-old laureate, contacted by telephone by the Nobel Foundation. “This Nobel Prize concerns a gigantic ice cube located at the South Pole of our planet,” explained committee member Professor Eva Olsson.

The neutrino “is the most discreet particle in the Universe,” explains the Nobel committee, and passes through “matter without being noticed.” “In the 1980s, Francis Halzen realized that Antarctic ice could be ideal for capturing enough of these elusive neutrinos, so that researchers could learn more about their distant origins,” he points out.

In addition to being one of the most prestigious awards on the planet, the Nobel consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a check for 12 million Swedish crowns, or just over a million euros.

Last year, it was awarded to a British-French-American trio for the discovery on a macroscopic scale of the “tunnel effect” in quantum mechanics, a science which describes the world of the infinitely small.