Laureates

Arthur B. McDonald and the SNO Collaboration

Arthur B. McDonald and the SNO Collaboration

Queen’s University

2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

For the fundamental discovery and exploration of neutrino oscillations, revealing a new frontier beyond, and possibly far beyond, the Standard Model of particle physics.

The Science

Sixty-five billion neutrinos pass through every square centimeter of your body every second, but since they are invisible and pass right through the Earth with scarcely any impacts, they are very hard to detect and study. Arthur McDonald and the SNO experiment in Canada demonstrated that neutrinos coming from the sun “oscillate”, or spontaneously transform into different types. This has major implications for our understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics and perhaps the evolution of the Universe.

Comments

This prize is the result of very hard work by an extremely skilled team of hundreds of scientists and technical people who made the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory a success. We started the project in 1984 with a 16-member collaboration, led by founding spokespersons Herb Chen of UC Irvine and George Ewan of Queen’s University, and went on to uncover very basic properties of electron neutrinos and the sun. I have been extremely fortunate to work with such a talented group of scientists, including the group leaders of major phases of the project, David Sinclair, Carleton University, and Hamish Robertson, University of Washington. We are very grateful for the support of our institutions and funding agencies in Canada, the US, UK, Portugal, and Germany, as well as INCO/VALE for the underground site and AECL for the loan of heavy water. I would particularly like to thank the supportive families of all our scientists, including my own wife, Janet, and our family. A wonderful aspect of this accomplishment has been the opportunity to provide an educational experience to hundreds of students and postdocs at our international institutions, particularly the extraordinary experience of a real scientific breakthrough.

Ceremony Acceptance Video

Breakthrough Prize Symposium Talks

Breakthrough Prize Interviews

Selected Public Talks

*Collaboration:

  • Yuen-Dat Chan
  • Yekaterina Opachich
  • Yasuo Takeuchi
  • Yaroslav Tserkovnyak
  • Xin Dai
  • Xin Chen
  • William McLatchie
  • William Locke
  • William J. Heintzelman
  • William Handler
  • William Frati
  • Walter Davidson
  • Vladimir Novikov
  • Vadim Rusu
  • Tyron Tsui
  • Tudor Costin
  • Tom Burritt
  • Timothy Van Wechel
  • Thomas Steiger
  • Thomas Sonley
  • Thomas Kutter
  • Thomas J. Bowles
  • Thomas J. Radcliffe
  • Thomas Andersen
  • Teresa Spreitzer
  • Steven J. Brice
  • Steven D. Biller
  • Steven Elliott
  • Steffon Luoma
  • Stanley R Seibert
  • Simon J. M. Peeters
  • Sherry Majerus
  • Shahnoor Habib
  • Sean McGee
  • Scott Oser
  • Sarah Rosendahl
  • Salvador Gil
  • Ryuta Hazama
  • Ryan Martin
  • Ryan MacLellan
  • Robin Ollerhead
  • Robert Komar
  • Robert Heaton
  • Robert G. Stokstad
  • Robert Boardman
  • Robert Black
  • Rizwan Haq
  • Richard Van de Water
  • Richard Van Berg
  • Richard Taplin
  • Richard Ott
  • Richard Lange
  • Richard L. Hahn
  • Richard Kouzes
  • Richard Hemingway
  • Richard Helmer
  • Richard Ford
  • Richard Allen
  • Reyco Henning
  • Reena Meijer Drees
  • Reda Tafirout
  • Ranpal Dosanjh
  • R.G. Hamish Robertson
  • Q. Rushdy Ahmad
  • Pillalamarr Jagam
  • Pierre Luc Drouin
  • Philip Harvey
  • Peter Thornewell
  • Peter Skensved
  • Peter J.S. Watson
  • Peter Doe
  • Peter Wittich
  • Paul T. Keener
  • Patrick Tsang
  • Olivier Simard
  • Nuno Barros
  • Noel Gagnon
  • Noah Oblath
  • Nikolai Tolich
  • Nikolai Starinsky
  • Nicholas West
  • Nicholas A. Jelley
  • Neil McCauley
  • Nathaniel Tagg
  • Naeem Ahmed
  • Myung Chol Chon
  • Mort Bercovitch
  • Morley O'Neill
  • Monica Dunford
  • Miriam Diamond
  • Minfang Yeh
  • Miles Smith
  • Mike Schwendener
  • Michal Shatkay
  • Michael Thorman
  • Michael Miller
  • Michael Lowry
  • Michael Lay
  • Michael Browne
  • Michael Bowler
  • Melissa Jerkins
  • Melin Huang
  • Masa Omori
  • Martin Moorhead
  • Mark S. Neubauer
  • Mark Kos
  • Mark Howe
  • Mark Chen
  • Mark Boulay
  • Marie DiMarco
  • Maria Isaac
  • Marcus J. Thomson
  • Marc Bergevin
  • Malcolm Fowler
  • Louise Heelan
  • Laurel Sinclair
  • Laura Stonehill
  • Laura Kormos
  • Klaus Kirch
  • Khalil Boudjemline
  • Kevin McBryde
  • Kevin Lesko
  • Kevin Graham
  • Kennneth McFarlane
  • Keith Rielage
  • Kathryn Schaffer
  • Katherine Frame
  • Karsten Heeger
  • Kareem Kazkaz
  • Kara Keeter
  • Kai Zuber
  • Juergen Wendland
  • Joshua R. Klein
  • Joseph Germani
  • Joseph Banar
  • Joseph A. Formaggio
  • Jose Maneira
  • Jon Hykawy
  • John Wilkerson
  • John Simpson
  • John Orrell
  • John Boger
  • John Amsbaugh
  • Jocelyn Monroe
  • Jimmy Law
  • Jian-Xiong Wang
  • Jessica Dunmore
  • Jerry B. Wilhelmy
  • Jeremy Lyon
  • Jeffrey Secrest
  • Jeanne Wilson
  • Jason TM Goon
  • Jason Pun
  • Jason Hewett
  • Jason Detwiler
  • Jaret Heise
  • James R. Leslie
  • James Loach
  • James Hall
  • James Cameron
  • Jacques Farine
  • J. Manuel Anaya
  • J. Duncan Hepburn
  • Ira Blevis
  • Ilan Levine
  • Ian Lawson
  • Hui-Siong Ng
  • Hugh Evans
  • Huaizhang Deng
  • Hok Seum Wan Chan Tseung
  • Henry Lee
  • Hendrick Labranche
  • Helen M. O'Keeffe
  • Heidi Munn
  • Hay Boon Mak
  • Hardy Seifert
  • Hans Mes
  • Hans Bichsel
  • Hadi Fergani
  • Gwen Milton
  • Guy Jonkmans
  • Gregory Harper
  • Gordon McGregor
  • Gordana Tešić
  • Gersende Prior
  • Gerhard Bühler
  • George T. Ewan
  • George T. Doucas
  • Geoffrey Miller
  • Gabriel D. Orebi Gann
  • G. Adam Cox
  • Fraser Duncan
  • Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress
  • Feng Zhang
  • Fabrice Fleurot
  • F. Mitchell Newcomer
  • Eugene W. Beier
  • Eugene Guillian
  • Etienne Rollin
  • Erik Saettler
  • Eric Norman
  • Emmanuel Bonvin
  • Emily-Michael Dragowsky
  • Edward T.H. Clifford
  • Ed Frank
  • E. Davis Earle
  • Douglas McDonald
  • Douglas Cowen
  • Doug Hallman
  • Dimpal Chauhan
  • Diane Reitzner
  • David Wark
  • David Waller
  • David Sinclair
  • David Anglin
  • Darren Grant
  • Colin Okada
  • Clarence Virtue
  • Christopher Waltham
  • Christopher Tunnell
  • Christopher Jillings
  • Christopher Howard
  • Christopher C. M. Kyba
  • Christine Kraus
  • Christian V. Ouellet
  • Christian Nally
  • Charlotte Sims
  • Charles Duba
  • Charles Currat
  • Catherine Mifflin
  • Carsten B. Krauss
  • Bryce Moffat
  • Bryan G. Fulsom
  • Bruce Cleveland
  • Brian Morissette
  • Brent VanDevender
  • Brandon Wall
  • Blair Jamieson
  • Bhaskar Sur
  • Berta Beltran
  • Bernard Nickel
  • Benjamin Monreal
  • Bei Cai
  • Bassam Aharmim
  • Barry C. Robertson
  • Azriel Goldschmidt
  • Aubra Anthony
  • Araz Hamian
  • Anthony J. Noble
  • Anett Schülke
  • Andrew Hime
  • Andrew Ferraris
  • Andre V. Krumins
  • André Roberge
  • André Krüger
  • Alysia Marino
  • Allan Myers
  • Alexander Wright
  • Alan W. P. Poon
  • Alan R. Smith
  • Alain Bellerive
  • Aksel L. Hallin

* The Prize recognizes living members of the experiments. We regret that prizes cannot be claimed on behalf of team members who have since passed away. All eligible winners of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics must claim their prize by October 1, 2016. Claims made after that date will not be accepted.