Dr Ian Bailey from Lancaster University is among the winners of this year's Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, one of the world's most prestigious scientific awards that celebrates new scientific discoveries.
The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognise those individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. This year the $3 million prize has been awarded to approximately 350 collaborators who contributed to publications reporting the most precise measurement to date of the magnetic field produced by the fundamental subatomic particle the muon through experiments at CERN, Brookhaven, and Fermilab.
Lancaster University physicists created novel computer simulations to analyse the motion of muons travelling through the particle accelerators at Fermilab and into the muon storage ring where the most recent measurements took place.
Dr Ian Bailey, who led the Lancaster University contribution, said: "Lancaster University and the Cockcroft Institute of Accelerator Science and Technology made an important contribution to this collaboration of scientists and engineers from many different physics communities. Collectively we were able to make the most precise measurements of the muon's magnetic moment. It's a small but important piece of understanding how our Universe works, and it's great to see all the hard work of the many individuals involved being recognised by the award of the Breakthrough Prize."
The Muon g-2 experiments recognised by this award began at CERN in the 1970s, shifted to Brookhaven National Laboratory in the 1990s and concluded at Fermilab with final publication in 2025.
Fermilab Director Norbert Holtkamp said: "I am proud of the role Fermilab played in the Muon g-2 experiment, which is set to stand as the most accurate measurement of the muon for years to come. Fermilab has a strong role as a collaborator and integrator, and this was demonstrated by our work with our colleagues at CERN, Brookhaven, and institutions from around the world."
The three generations of Muon g-2 experiments were designed to measure the magnetic moment of the muon with ever-increasing precision, exploring the quantum realm where particles briefly appear and vanish-and where even tiny deviations could point to entirely new laws of nature outside of the current Standard Model of Particle Physics.
The latest and most precise measurement of the muon's magnetic moment was announced by Fermilab in 2025 and was important because it provided a sensitive test of the Standard Model of particle physics.
