Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to TUM professor Francis Halzen
Belgian-American particle physicist Francis Halzen, a TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor since 2012, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering work in neutrino astronomy and the first detection of cosmic neutrinos using the IceCube detector at the South Pole, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The IceCube observatory uses 5,160 optical sensors frozen into Antarctic ice to detect collisions between neutrinos and ice molecules, allowing researchers to study active galactic centers that are obscured from traditional telescopes by cosmic dust and plasma. Halzen continues to conduct neutrino research as an external member of TUM's ORIGINS Cluster, collaborating with TUM Professor Elisa Resconi on investigations into the sources of cosmic neutrinos.
