Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

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Published Sep 13, 2026 Updated Sep 13, 2026 1 min read

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Name	Breakthrough Prize
Type	Science Awards
Award For	Outstanding contributions in life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics
Award By	Breakthrough Prize Organization
First	2012
Last	5th April 2025
Status	Active

About Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognize those individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. It is open to all physicists – theoretical, mathematical, experimental – working on the deepest mysteries of the Universe.One Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is given each year. The winner receives $3 million. The prize can be split between two or more scientists.

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Winners List

This Winners List features 48 winners of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, from 2012 to 2025.

Image	Year	Winner Name	Country	Disciplines

	2025	ALICE Collaboration Team	Switzerland	Fundamental Physics
ALICE Collaboration Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties confirming the symmetry-breaking mechanism of mass generation, the discovery of new strongly interacting particles, the study of rare processes and matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the exploration of nature at the shortest distances and most extreme conditions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
	2025	ATLAS Collaboration Team	Switzerland	Fundamental Physics
ATLAS Collaboration Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties confirming the symmetry-breaking mechanism of mass generation, the discovery of new strongly interacting particles, the study of rare processes and matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the exploration of nature at the shortest distances and most extreme conditions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
	2025	CMS Collaboration Team	Switzerland	Fundamental Physics
CMS Collaboration Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties confirming the symmetry-breaking mechanism of mass generation, the discovery of new strongly interacting particles, the study of rare processes and matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the exploration of nature at the shortest distances and most extreme conditions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
	2025	LHCb Collaboration Team	Switzerland	Fundamental Physics
LHCb Collaboration Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties confirming the symmetry-breaking mechanism of mass generation, the discovery of new strongly interacting particles, the study of rare processes and matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the exploration of nature at the shortest distances and most extreme conditions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
	2024	John Cardy	United Kingdom, United States	Fundamental Physics
John Cardy won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics.
	2024	Alexander Zamolodchikov	Russia, United States	Fundamental Physics
Alexander Zamolodchikov won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics.
	2023	Charles H. Bennett	United States	Fundamental Physics
Charles H. Bennett won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For foundational work in the field of quantum information.
	2023	Gilles Brassard	Canada	Fundamental Physics
Gilles Brassard won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For foundational work in the field of quantum information.
	2023	David Deutsch	United Kingdom, Israel	Fundamental Physics
David Deutsch won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For foundational work in the field of quantum information.
	2023	Peter W. Shor	United States	Fundamental Physics
Peter W. Shor won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For foundational work in the field of quantum information.
	2022	Hidetoshi Katori	Japan	Fundamental Physics
Hidetoshi Katori won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For outstanding contributions to the invention and development of the optical lattice clock, which enables precision tests of the fundamental laws of nature.
	2022	Jun Ye	China, United States	Fundamental Physics
Jun Ye won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For outstanding contributions to the invention and development of the optical lattice clock, which enables precision tests of the fundamental laws of nature.
	2021	Eric Adelberger	United States	Fundamental Physics
Eric Adelberger won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For precision fundamental measurements that test our understanding of gravity, probe the nature of dark energy, and establish limits on couplings to dark matter.
	2021	Jens H. Gundlach	Germany	Fundamental Physics
Jens H. Gundlach won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For precision fundamental measurements that test our understanding of gravity, probe the nature of dark energy, and establish limits on couplings to dark matter.
	2021	Blayne Heckel	United States	Fundamental Physics
Blayne Heckel won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For precision fundamental measurements that test our understanding of gravity, probe the nature of dark energy, and establish limits on couplings to dark matter.
	2020	Sheperd Doeleman, Founding Director	United States	Fundamental Physics
Sheperd Doeleman, Founding Director won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the first image of a supermassive black hole, taken by means of an Earth-sized alliance of telescopes.
	2019	Charles Kane	United States	Fundamental Physics
Charles Kane won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For new ideas about topology and symmetry in physics, leading to the prediction of a new class of materials that conduct electricity only on their surface.
	2019	Eugene Mele	United States	Fundamental Physics
Eugene Mele won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For new ideas about topology and symmetry in physics, leading to the prediction of a new class of materials that conduct electricity only on their surface.
	2018	David N. Spergel and the WMAP Science Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
David N. Spergel and the WMAP Science Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.
	2018	Lyman Page, Jr. and the WMAP Science Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
Lyman Page, Jr. and the WMAP Science Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.
	2018	Norman Jarosikand the WMAP Science Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
Norman Jarosikand the WMAP Science Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.
	2018	Gary Hinshawand the WMAP Science Team	United States, Canada	Fundamental Physics
Gary Hinshawand the WMAP Science Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.
	2018	Charles L. Bennettand the WMAP Science Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
Charles L. Bennettand the WMAP Science Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.
	2017	Cumrun Vafa	Iran, United States	Fundamental Physics
Cumrun Vafa won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For transformative advances in quantum field theory, string theory, and quantum gravity.
	2017	Andrew Strominger	United States	Fundamental Physics
Andrew Strominger won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For transformative advances in quantum field theory, string theory, and quantum gravity.
	2017	Joseph Polchinski	United States	Fundamental Physics
Joseph Polchinski won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For transformative advances in quantum field theory, string theory, and quantum gravity.
	2016	Yoichiro Suzuki and the Super K Collaboration	Japan	Fundamental Physics
Yoichiro Suzuki and the Super K Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Takaaki Kajita and the Super K Collaboration	Japan	Fundamental Physics
Takaaki Kajita and the Super K Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Arthur B. McDonald and the SNO Collaboration	Canada	Fundamental Physics
Arthur B. McDonald and the SNO Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Atsuto Suzuki and the KamLAND Collaboration	Japan	Fundamental Physics
Atsuto Suzuki and the KamLAND Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Koichiro Nishikawa and the K2K and T2K Collaboration	Japan	Fundamental Physics
Koichiro Nishikawa and the K2K and T2K Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Yifang Wang and the Daya Bay Collaboration	China	Fundamental Physics
Yifang Wang and the Daya Bay Collaboration won the 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.
	2016	Kam-Biu Luk and the Daya Bay Collaboration	Hong Kong, United States	Fundamental Physics
Kam-Biu Luk and the Daya Bay Collaboration won the 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.
	2015	Brian P. Schmidt and the High-z Supernova Search Team	United States, Australia	Fundamental Physics
Brian P. Schmidt and the High-z Supernova Search Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the most unexpected discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, rather than slowing as had been long assumed.
	2015	Adam Riess and the High-z Supernova Search Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
Adam Riess and the High-z Supernova Search Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the most unexpected discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, rather than slowing as had been long assumed.
	2015	Saul Perlmutter and the Supernova Cosmology Project Team	United States	Fundamental Physics
Saul Perlmutter and the Supernova Cosmology Project Team won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the most unexpected discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, rather than slowing as had been long assumed.
	2014	John H. Schwarz	United States	Fundamental Physics
John H. Schwarz won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For opening new perspectives on quantum gravity and the unification of forces.
	2014	Michael B. Green	United Kingdom	Fundamental Physics
Michael B. Green won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For opening new perspectives on quantum gravity and the unification of forces.
	2013	Alexander Polyakov	Russia, United States	Fundamental Physics
Alexander Polyakov won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For his many discoveries in field theory and string theory, including the conformal bootstrap, magnetic monopoles, instantons, confinement/deconfinement, the quantization of strings in noncritical dimensions, gauge/string duality, and many others. His ideas have dominated the scene in these fields during the past decades.
	2012	Prof. Ashoke Sen Also won: Padma Bhushan , Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology	India	Fundamental Physics
	2012	Edward Witten	United States	Fundamental Physics
Edward Witten won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For contributions to physics spanning topics such as new applications of topology to physics, non-perturbative duality symmetries, models of particle physics derived from string theory, dark matter detection, and the twistor-string approach to particle scattering amplitudes, as well as numerous applications of quantum field theory to mathematics.
	2012	Nathan Seiberg	Israel, United States	Fundamental Physics
Nathan Seiberg won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For major contributions to our understanding of quantum field theory and string theory. His exact analysis of supersymmetric quantum field theories led to new and deep insights about their dynamics, with fundamental applications in physics and mathematics.
	2012	Juan Maldacena	Argentina, United States	Fundamental Physics
Juan Maldacena won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the gauge/gravity duality, relating gravitational physics in a spacetime and quantum field theory on the boundary of the spacetime. This correspondence demonstrates that black holes and quantum mechanics are compatible, resolving the black hole information paradox. It also provides a useful tool for the study of strongly coupled quantum systems, giving insights into a range of problems from high temperature nuclear matter to high temperature superconductors.
	2012	Andrei Linde	Russia, United States	Fundamental Physics
Andrei Linde won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the development of inflationary cosmology, including the theories of new inflation, eternal chaotic inflation, and the inflationary Multiverse, and for contributing to the development of vacuum stabilization mechanisms in string theory.
	2012	Maxim Kontsevich	Russia, France	Fundamental Physics
Maxim Kontsevich won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For numerous contributions which have taken the fruitful interaction between modern theoretical physics and mathematics to new heights, including the development of homological mirror symmetry, and the study of wall-crossing phenomena.
	2012	Alexei Kitaev	Russia, United States	Fundamental Physics
Alexei Kitaev won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the theoretical idea of implementing robust quantum memories and fault-tolerant quantum computation using topological quantum phases with anyons and unpaired Majorana modes.
	2012	Alan Guth	United States	Fundamental Physics
Alan Guth won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For the invention of inflationary cosmology, and for his contributions to the theory for the generation of cosmological density fluctuations arising from quantum fluctuations in the early universe, and for his ongoing work on the problem of defining probabilities in eternally inflating spacetimes.
	2012	Nima Arkani-Hamed	United States, Canada	Fundamental Physics
Nima Arkani-Hamed won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics For original approaches to outstanding problems in particle physics, including the proposal of large extra dimensions, new theories for the Higgs boson, novel realizations of supersymmetry, theories for dark matter, and the exploration of new mathematical structures in gauge theory scattering amplitudes.

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Award Chart by Country

This chart tracks Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics winners by year from 2012 to 2025, spanning 14 years, with the most wins (9) recorded in 2012.

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Award Chart by Disciplines

This chart groups 48 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics winners by Disciplines, across 1 distinct entry — Fundamental Physics leads with 48 wins.