Researchers at the University of Rome Tor Vergata Giuseppe di Sciascio, Matteo Sorbara and Silvia Miozzi are among the recipients of the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, awarded to the collaborations behind the Muon g-2 experiments at CERN, BNL, and Fermilab. Over more than fifty years, these efforts have produced one of the most precise measurements in particle physics: the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. The prize recognizes the combined achievements of the three major experiments—from the first carried out at CERN in the 1970s, to the Brookhaven National Laboratory experiment in the early 2000s, and finally the current one at Fermilab—culminating in the final results published in 2025, which provide the most accurate determination to date of this fundamental property.
As noted by Marco Incagli, co-spokesperson for the Muon g-2 collaboration, the award honors “three generations of experiments” that have progressively refined techniques and instrumentation to reach unprecedented levels of precision. Within this framework, the Italian contribution, through INFN, has been crucial—particularly in the development of a laser system for the absolute calibration of calorimeters and a highly sensitive optical magnetometer for measuring magnetic field transients. These tools have significantly reduced experimental uncertainties. The Italian group also made a decisive contribution to the analysis of the anomalous spin precession frequency and its systematic uncertainties.
The University of Rome Tor Vergata and its INFN division, together with other Italian groups, have been actively involved in every phase of the experiment, contributing both to its construction and optimization and to the data analysis that led to the final result.
The 2026 Breakthrough Prize therefore celebrates not only an outstanding scientific milestone, but also the continuity and strength of international collaboration in fundamental research. The coordinated efforts of hundreds of researchers have made it possible to achieve a result that now stands as a benchmark in fundamental physics. The Muon g-2 collaboration is continuing its work, with the goal of further refining the measurement of the muon’s electric dipole moment and exploring potential contributions beyond the Standard Model to its anomalous magnetic moment.
