China's Wang Yifang, an experimental particle physicist, and his team have been awarded the 2016 Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Prize for their Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. It is the first time Chinese scientists have won the award.

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment discovered a new type of neutrino oscillation in 2012, clearing the path for future understanding of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.

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The Award was founded by Yuri Milner, a well-known Russian investor. The award, unlike the Noble Prize, emphasizes and encourages predictions and discoveries rather than experimental demonstration of theories.

The award was give to reflect the studies and discoveries that neutrino oscillation revealed beyond the standard model. The Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Prize was presented to seven leading scientists and five research teams for neutrino experiments.

In addition to the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino experiment led by Wang and Kambu Luk, the recipients included the KamLAND Experiment led by Atsuto Suzuki, the K2K/T2K Experiment led by Koichiro Nishikawa, the Canadian Sudbury Neutrino Observatory led by Arthur B.McDonald, and the Super-Kamiokande Experiment led by Takaaki Kajita and Yoichiro Suzuki.

Neutrinos are subatomic particles produced by the decay of radioactive elements and are elementary particles that lack an electric charge. The particles engulfed the universe in the earliest moments after the Big Bang, and are continually produced in stars and other nuclear reactions.

The 52-year-old Wang received his B.Sc degree at the Department of Physics, Nanjing University and his Ph.D degree at University of Florence. After stints working in Italy, and at Stanford University and M.I.T. in the U.S., Wang returned to China in 2001 and is deputy director of the Experimental Physics Center of the Institute of High Energy Physics.

TagsChinese Team Wins Physics Breakthrough Award, Wang Yifang, neutrinos, Particle Physics, of matter-antimatter asymmetry, Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, 2016 Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Award, Breakthrough Prize