The Muon g-2 storage ring at Fermilab. Photo: Fermilab
Members of the University of Liverpool's Particle Physics Research Frontier share in the three million dollar award of the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the global Muon g-2 research programme measuring the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.
The Breakthrough Prize is one of the world's most prestigious scientific awards that celebrates new scientific discoveries in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. This year's Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognises the work to measure a quantity known as g-2, which is the anomalous magnetic moment of a tiny elementary particle called the muon. The measurement is sensitive to the most subtle effects of the smallest particles and forces.
The 2026 award in Fundamental Physics recognises the work of researchers over nearly 70 years, including first measurements made at CERN in the 1960s and 1970s, improved measurements at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the 1990s and most recently at Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment. The Fermilab team achieved the ultimate measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon with the unprecedented precision of 127 parts per billion, published in a 2025 landmark paper.
Professor Themis Bowcock, who established the University of Liverpool's participation in the Muon g-2 experiment, said: "It is a true honour to be part of the team that has been awarded the 2026 Breakthrough Prize. The University of Liverpool is home to one of the largest research groups working on the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab, with 28 researchers, engineers and technicians contributing to making this measurement possible, including 17 current members of our research group. "
The University of Liverpool's major contribution to the experiment at Fermilab included work on the accelerator facilities and the development of the tracking detectors installed in the vacuum of the muon storage ring. There has also been strong University leadership on the theory calculations which are intimately linked to the experimental work for this type of measurement. Since its inception, members of the University of Liverpool team held many leading roles in the operation of the experiment and analysis of its data. Dr Joe Price, who currently leads the University's g-2 research team, said: "Seeing the physicists, engineers and technicians who contributed to this project recognised together in this way is wonderful. These high precision measurements are only possible with world class detectors, advanced facilities and state-of-the-art analysis techniques."
Professor Graziano Venanzoni joined the University of Liverpool in 2022 following the award of his Leverhulme International Professorship. This substantially expanded the University's muon physics programme, making it one of the leading programmes worldwide. As spokesperson for the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab during a crucial phase of the project, Professor Venanzoni oversaw key aspects of data-taking and analysis that were instrumental in achieving the experiment's final benchmark result. Professor Venanzoni said: "The Muon g-2 result is ultimately expressed as a single number, but that number encapsulates an extraordinary collective effort involving a wide range of expertise. I am particularly pleased that this prize recognises the excellence and diversity of everyone involved. In particular, the University of Liverpool team has made outstanding contributions over many years - from the construction of the tracker detector to leadership in operations and data analysis - all of which have been central to this achievement".
After completion of the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment, the University's muon research programme now focuses on developing the next steps, conducting further theory work and devising the next-generation of experiments to resolve new questions that have been raised by the measurements.
Dr Saskia Charity, an STFC Ernest Rutherford and University of Liverpool Research Fellow working in the muon group said: "This is a very exciting moment for muon physics. It is great to see ultra-precise measurements like muon g-2 getting recognition with the Breakthrough Prize. The Standard Model theory prediction of g-2 remains a pressing open question, which we hope to address with the next generation of precision muon physics with experiments like MUonE at CERN."
Professor Thomas Teubner, a theoretical physicist who also worked on the g-2 experiment, co-founded the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative, a broad international collaboration working on the theoretical calculation. He added: "To fully realize the potential of the ultra-precise g-2 measurements to constrain new physics, a correspondingly precise understanding of the theory predictions is critical. The push to ever greater precision has exposed inconsistencies between different theoretical approaches, which we are working hard to address."
It is the fourth time in the 15 years since the Breakthrough Prizes were first established that the prize has been awarded to research programmes in which the University of Liverpool has played a direct role, with awards for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, the Higgs boson, and for the wider Large Hadron Collider physics programme. The University of Liverpool's muon physics research programme has been supported by The Leverhulme Trust and the Science and Technology Funding Council (STFC).
The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki and have been sponsored by foundations established by them. Selection Committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates in each field choose the winners. Information on the Breakthrough Prize is available at www.breakthroughprize.org.
Particle physics is one of the University's research frontiers, highlighting our important contributions to scientific breakthroughs that uncover the deepest secrets of the universe. To learn more about the particle physics frontier at the University of Liverpool, visit: www.liverpool.ac.uk/research/frontiers/particle-physics/.
