Scientist Francis Halzen to receive Nobel Prize for discoveries in astrophysics

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to American scientist Francis Halzen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA, for his research in astrophysics, the Nobel Prize informs.

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 to Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA ‘for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin,’" the Nobel Prize informed in a press release on its website.

Halzen is one of the founders and scientific director of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. The system, developed with his participation, uses one cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole as a huge detector, which enables to catch neutrinos—neutral elementary particles—coming from space.

One of the most important achievements of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory was the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of cosmic origin in 2013.

Later, the observatory received data on neutrino radiation from active galaxies, and also recorded neutrinos associated with objects in the Milky Way.