Francis Halzen Wins Nobel Physics Prize For Antarctic 'Ghost Particle' Hunt (wisc.edu)
- Reference: 0186057034
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/10/07/0336250/francis-halzen-wins-nobel-physics-prize-for-antarctic-ghost-particle-hunt
- Source link: https://news.wisc.edu/university-of-wisconsin-madison-professor-francis-halzen-named-2026-nobel-laureate-in-physics/
> Embedded in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, IceCube uses thousands of light sensors to survey the universe for neutrinos, nearly massless particles that rarely interact with other matter. Neutrinos provide information about the workings of black holes, galaxies and other objects in the cosmos. "IceCube is like no other telescope in the world," says UW-Madison interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots. "And there is no other scientist quite like Francis Halzen, whose idea to create a neutrino detector under almost a mile of ice has led to a remarkable multinational and multi-institutional scientific collaboration and a fundamental shift in how we think about the universe."
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> Unlike the neutral neutrino, cosmic rays are charged particles whose paths cannot be traced directly back to their sources. But the powerful cosmic accelerators that produce them, like supermassive black holes, will also produce neutrinos. These so-called "ghost particles" travel nearly undisturbed from their accelerators, giving scientists an almost direct pointer to their source. Along with observations by other telescopes, the neutrino first detected by IceCube provided the first-ever evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic rays, whose origins have been notoriously difficult to pinpoint since their discovery over 100 years ago by 1936 physics Nobel laureate Victor Hess.
[1] https://news.wisc.edu/university-of-wisconsin-madison-professor-francis-halzen-named-2026-nobel-laureate-in-physics/
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/11/07/0223235/could-ghost-particle-neutrinos-crashing-into-antarctica-change-astronomy-forever
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/23/06/30/061203/scientists-find-ghost-particles-spewing-from-our-milky-way-galaxy
[4] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, what has a better understanding of particle physics ever done for US, huh??? ... ...
_ ...........
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah! Besides computers, telecommunications, medical equipment and energy production, what have particle physics done for us, heh?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
"Okay, nuclear power. Yeah. Yeah, they did give us that. That's true. "
"And industrial-scale superconducting magnets!"
"Don't forget GPS satellite relativistic corrections!"
"And radioisotope therapy!"
"Electron beam therapy?"
"World Wide Web, wasn't that created by particle physicists?"
"Yeah, they did do that."
"Capacitative touchscreens too, you know."
"All right, all right, FAIR ENOUGH! But APART from computers, telecommunications, nuclear power, PET scans, MRIs, satellite communications, superconductors, ra
Re: (Score:3)
He was *solely* awarded a Physics Nobel, the 1st such in over 3 decades primarily for, NOT an original idea, but a refinement of one proposed, persevered and built by John Learned who is still alive.
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Just because everyone was operating on the assumption that high energy cosmic neutrinos exist doesn't mean that it isn't worth proving that beyond all doubt. It wouldn't be the first time if the results was unexpected, or if it turned out a whole load of accepted physics were based on a faulty assumption.
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I would like to know why such an important telescope was named after an administrator, not a scientist.
Re: (Score:2)
You seem very angry... A nobel prize in penguin country should make any self-respecting Linux nerd happy !
Anyway, this observatory doesn't just prove that neutrino exist, we already knew that as you mention, but it is also highly directional and can build a map of sources. The JWST is very noce, yes, but it only take *better* pictures than previously. This allows for an entirely new view on the universe, in the same groundbreaking way as the gravity wave detectors. A few years ago everything we knew abou
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Artem has a point: Alfred Nobel himself, when he created the prizes named after him, asked to award the prize to those who “during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” - and it is really difficult to argue that "confirming the knowledge of cosmic neutrino existence" has "conferred greater benefit on mankind" than, for example, the invention of silicon-carbide power transistors or alike. We can speculate on what great things may lie ahead on either cosmic neu
Not ... (Score:2)
... Miskatonic University?
Nice! (Score:4, Insightful)
These projects are not very visible, but they are right there in the rather large hole we have in known Physics. Anything getting us a bit more is very welcome.
Re: (Score:3)
> These projects are not very visible
I'll say! They buried it at the South Pole!