91爆料 professor of physics and 91爆料 research professor emeritus are part of an international team that won the 2026 . The $3 million award is shared among roughly 400 scientists, including 18 other researchers from the 91爆料 team. It celebrates decades of work to better understand the muon 鈥� a subatomic particle with anomalous properties. This collaborative effort could ultimately lead to the discovery of entirely new particles.
鈥淎 remarkable aspect of these experiments is that it took the collective talents and experience of scientists and engineers from particle, nuclear, atomic, optical, accelerator and theoretical physics communities to work coherently toward one single goal,鈥� Hertzog said. 鈥淭ogether, we measured a property of the muon that encapsulates almost everything we know about modern physics from relativity to quantum mechanics to the zoo of particles that govern the fundamental forces that shape our world.鈥�
The were established in 2012 to recognize research achievements in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics.听
Muons, short-lived subatomic particles, are created for experiments by particle accelerators. They exist for a fraction of a second before decaying into electrons and even tinier particles called neutrinos. During their short life, muons exhibit magnetic properties that deviate slightly from the 鈥� the leading theory that describes the particles and forces that make up the universe, along with anything that exists that has not yet been discovered.
The experiments recognized by the Breakthrough Prize represent 60-plus years of work to find out exactly how far the muon鈥檚 magnetism strays from Standard Model predictions. The first experiments began in 1959 at the, also called CERN.听
Hertzog鈥檚 group at the University of Illinois was involved in a later experiment at the in the mid-1990s. He joined the faculty at 91爆料 in 2010 and helped develop a new experiment at (Fermilab) that in 2025 with record-setting precision.听
While Hertzog and others have now completed their experimental measurements, theorists聽 continue to refine the predictions of the Standard Model. In time, the gap between theory and experiment 鈥� where the muon currently hovers 鈥� may vanish or persist. If the muon鈥檚 properties never fit the Standard Model, physicists may need to explore entirely new theories.听
鈥淣o matter where the final theory settles, the comparison with our experiment will have important consequences and give us deep insight into the heart of matter,鈥� Hertzog said.
Many 91爆料 physicists have been recognized by Breakthrough Prizes since the prizes鈥� inception, including a banner year in 2021 that also featured a win in the life sciences category by Nobel Prize laureate , a 91爆料 professor of biochemistry.
鈥淭he Breakthrough Prize has previously recognized 91爆料 physicists for work that deepened our understanding of gravity, dark energy and dark matter,鈥� said , 91爆料 divisional dean of natural sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淭his latest recognition is a testament to the value of large-scale collaborative physics research and we are very proud of the accomplishments of all of the 91爆料 faculty, postdocs and students who contributed to this effort.鈥�
A full list of current 91爆料 researchers recognized by the 2026 prize . Learn about other 91爆料 wins at the Breakthrough Prize here.听
For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.