Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen for IceCube discovery

The Belgian-American scientist Francis Halzen will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics this year. This was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

Halzen realized that the ice at the South Pole could be used to track particles known as neutrinos. His vision and scientific leadership made possible the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole. This enabled the discovery of high-energy neutrinos from space, as stated in the explanation. Using IceCube, a cubic kilometer of ice equipped with light sensors, researchers can detect neutrinos from extremely energetic processes in the distant universe.

Last year the Nobel Prize in Physics went to the British John Clarke, the French Michel Devoret and the American John Martinis. They received the award “for the discovery of the macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling effect and energy quantization in an electrical circuit.”

The Nobel Prizes go back to the dynamite inventor and prize donor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). He stipulated in his will that the awards should be given to those who have rendered the greatest benefit to humanity in each award category over the past year. Physics was the first category that Nobel mentioned in his will. The first Nobel Prize winner in physics was the German Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1901. He was recognized for his discovery of the X-rays that bear his name.