2026年诺贝尔物理学奖揭晓：“中微子猎人”Francis Halzen独享奖项
瑞典皇家科学院10月6日在斯德哥尔摩宣布，2026年诺贝尔物理学奖授予比利时裔美国科学家 Francis Halzen，表彰他“对南极冰立方中微子天文台（IceCube）的决定性贡献，以及对来自宇宙的高能中微子的发现”。这是本届诺贝尔奖季揭晓的第二个奖项，昨天刚公布了医学奖。
82岁的 Halzen 任职于美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校。1988年，他率先提出用南极冰层作为天然探测器，捕捉来自宇宙深处的“幽灵粒子”中微子。在他的带领下，一个跨14国、58个机构、450多人的国际团队把数千个光学传感器埋进冰下两公里，建成了体积达一立方公里的 IceCube 天文台。中微子穿过冰层时与原子核碰撞产生蓝光，传感器由此追溯它们来自哪一个遥远星系。
诺贝尔物理学委员会主席 Mark Pearce 说，Halzen 的执着与远见“为一种全新的天文学铺平了道路”。Halzen 本人在意大利通过电话连线时表示，得奖是“巨大的惊喜”，“当年几乎没人相信这个计划能成功，包括我自己”。
诺贝尔物理学奖自1901年设立，是科学界最高荣誉之一。化学奖将于明天（周三）公布。（资料来源：路透社、美联社、CNN）
2026 Nobel Physics Prize Goes to Neutrino Pioneer Francis Halzen
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday in Stockholm that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Belgian-American scientist Francis Halzen for "decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin." It is the second Nobel of the 2026 season, following Monday's medicine prize.
Halzen, 82, is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1988 he first proposed using Antarctic ice as a giant detector for neutrinos, the "ghost particles" from deep space that stream through matter without a trace. He led an international team of more than 450 researchers and engineers from 58 institutions in 14 countries to build IceCube, burying thousands of light sensors two kilometers beneath the ice. When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus it produces a flash of blue light, letting scientists trace it back to a distant galaxy or an exploding star.
Nobel physics committee chair Mark Pearce said Halzen's tenacity and scientific vision "paved the way for a new kind of astronomy." Joining by phone from Italy, Halzen called the win "a great surprise," noting that when the project began, very few believed it would work "including myself."
The physics prize, first awarded in 1901, remains one of science's highest honors. The chemistry prize will be announced Wednesday. (Sources: Reuters, AP, CNN.)
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