The Nobel Prize committee announced Tuesday that Belgian physicist Francis Halsen has won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on subatomic particles at the South Pole, which contributes in particular to a better understanding of the origins of the universe.
"This year's prize is about mysterious messengers from space," said Ellen Mönes, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, during a press conference.
The Academy noted that Halsen's "vision and scientific leadership" were the cornerstone of the polar observatory, which it described as "a cube of ice the size of a cubic kilometer and equipped with light sensors."
The Nobel Committee stated that Halsen was honored "for his decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin."
Using this observatory, researchers can detect neutrinos, rare subatomic particles "produced by extremely energetic processes in the distant universe."
Wold Halsen, 82, is from Tinen, Belgium, and is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. He is also an American citizen.
"It was a huge surprise, and obviously I wasn't expecting it," he said during a telephone press conference shortly after the prize was announced.
"But I was thrilled to hear the news of winning this prize."
"This Nobel Prize is about a giant ice cube at the South Pole of our planet, which allows us to detect neutrinos," Eva Olsson, a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, told reporters at the Academy's headquarters in Stockholm.
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"Unlike other particles, neutrinos reach us without changing direction or losing energy," the Academy said in a statement. "This means they can provide information that cannot be obtained in any other way." The Nobel Committee explained that "extremely high-energy cosmic neutrinos are very rare, and therefore a huge amount of ice is needed to detect a sufficient number of collisions."
Halzen first proposed the idea for the observatory in 1988, and it quickly gained the support of other researchers.
Initial tests were conducted just a few years later, but the observatory wasn't completed until 2011, and it soon detected its first high-energy neutrinos.
Halzen said, "For me, the main source of happiness, besides winning the Nobel Prize, is that I hope it shines a light on the truly courageous people who joined me at the beginning of this project."
Halzen is the first Nobel laureate in physics since 1992 to receive the prize alone.
But Erin O'Sullivan, an astrophysicist specializing in neutrinos at Uppsala University in Sweden and a spokesperson for the IceCube collaboration, said that "his solo win is entirely deserved."
She told AFP, "He was truly the driving force behind this entire project, and he's been involved since its very earliest stages."
In an interview with the Nobel Foundation, Halsen expressed his gratitude for the support the project received even in its early stages. He noted that everyone "thought this project was just a nice idea that wouldn't work."
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever offered his "warmest congratulations" to Halsen, pointing out that he is the eleventh Belgian to win a Nobel Prize, and the second in physics.
This is the second Nobel Prize to be announced this season, following the awarding of the Medicine Prize on Monday to American psychiatrist and neuroscientist Carl Disroth, and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Jörg Nagel.
These researchers were recognized for their pioneering work in optogenetics, which uses light to control neural signals.
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When asked whether these neutrinos could carry messages from possible distant civilizations, Halsen acknowledged that "there has been speculation that (...) this would be an ideal way to communicate with extraterrestrial beings."
He added, "But I don't think I would go down that road. I think we have enough real-world problems to deal with right now."
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Briton John Clarke, Frenchman Michel Dufour, and American John Martinis for their work in putting quantum mechanics into practical application, enabling the development of a wide range of digital technologies, from mobile phones to a new generation of computers.
The physics prize will be followed by the chemistry prize announcement on Wednesday.
The winner of the literature prize will be announced on Thursday, with some observers predicting that the Swedish Academy might choose a female writer this time, perhaps from Latin America, to succeed last year's winner, Hungarian László Krasznahorkai.
The most anticipated prize, the Nobel Peace Prize, is set to be announced on Friday.
US President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to win the prize last year, to the point that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado ended up awarding him her Nobel Prize medal. The committee is aware that Trump will be following the prize closely again this year.
The Nobel Prize series concludes with the announcement of the Economics Prize on October 12.
The Nobel Prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal, and a cash award of 12 million Swedish kronor (US$1.2 million), which is shared if there are multiple winners in a single category.
The winners will receive their prizes at a formal ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who established the prizes in his will.
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