Decoding the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics
by
R22 Pickavance Theatre, Harwell Campus, RAL
Abstract: The 2026 Nobel prize in physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”. This novel experiment at the South Pole was the first to detect cosmic neutrinos at TeV-PeV energies, and also identify the first candidate source: a flaring blazar 5.7 billion light-years away. This was a breakthrough in real-time multi-messenger astronomy and poses challenges to astrophysical models of such active galactic nuclei. Intriguingly no neutrinos have been detected from gamma-ray bursts, nor were any seen from the binary neutron star merger detected in gravitational waves. Resolving the high energy neutrino sky and furthering our understanding of such extreme environments will require IceCube-Gen2, as well as other experiments around the world to exploit this new window on the Universe. Such experiments also have immense potential to probe new phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.
Speaker: Subir Sarkar is Professor emeritus at Oxford University and known for his work in astroparticle physics & cosmology - in both theory & experiment. He has been at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics since 1990, and headed its Particle Theory Group (2011-19). He is a member of the IceCube collaboration since its inception in 2004. (https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/sarkar)
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