In recognition of this monumental achievement, three physicists responsible for the breakthrough have been named recipients of the 2026 Europhysics Prize, one of Europe’s most prestigious honors in the field of condensed matter physics. The European Physical Society (EPS) Condensed Matter Division selected Professor Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Dr. Libor Šmejkal, and Professor Tomas Jungwirth for their pioneering work establishing altermagnetism as a distinct form of magnetic order, sitting proudly alongside the long-accepted categories of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.
"This award recognizes a fundamental discovery that challenged one of the most established paradigms in condensed matter physics," said Professor Jairo Sinova, Director of the Spin Phenomena Interdisciplinary Center (SPICE) at Mainz University. "Discovering that an entirely new magnetic phase had remained hidden for more than one hundred years demonstrates that even the most mature scientific fields can still hold fundamental surprises."
The breakthrough emerged from years of intensive collaboration between Sinova’s research group at Mainz University and Jungwirth’s team at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. Dr. Šmejkal, who also maintained a vital affiliation in Prague, spent eight foundational years at Mainz between 2016 and 2024. During this tenure, he first pursued his doctoral research and later continued his scientific journey as a postdoctoral scientist within Sinova’s vibrant research group.
During that period, Šmejkal played a leading role in developing the complex theoretical framework that ultimately defined altermagnetism. By expertly combining advanced mathematical approaches to symmetry with the principles of spintronics—a burgeoning field that studies how the intrinsic spin of electrons can be utilized in electronic devices—the researchers identified a previously unrecognized pattern of magnetic behavior that defied classical classification.
Their theoretical predictions quickly caught the attention of experimental teams around the world. Subsequent measurements of electronic properties and electrical transport across multiple distinct materials provided concrete, empirical evidence supporting the new magnetic classification. Since these initial proofs, altermagnetism has rapidly grown into one of the most active and dynamic areas of condensed matter physics, with collaborative research efforts expanding aggressively across Europe, North America, and Asia.
A Third Form of Magnetism Rewrites Physics
For more than a century, physicists universally divided collinear magnets into two fundamental and mutually exclusive categories: ferromagnets and antiferromagnets.
Ferromagnets are characterized by an overall magnetic alignment that produces a net magnetization, making them foundational to many of the magnetic memory and data storage technologies we rely upon today. In contrast, conventional antiferromagnets feature opposing magnetic moments that perfectly cancel one another out, leaving no overall net magnetization and producing electronic behaviors that are drastically different from those observed in ferromagnets.
Altermagnetism introduces a surprising and elegant third possibility that bridges aspects of both worlds.
Much like traditional antiferromagnets, altermagnets possess internal magnetic moments that cancel out globally, resulting in zero net magnetization. However, unlike standard antiferromagnets, their underlying electronic band structures allow their electrons to exhibit distinct properties previously thought to be exclusive to ferromagnets.
This unusual combination allows altermagnets to support robust electrical currents carrying strongly polarized electron spins while simultaneously displaying extremely rapid magnetic dynamics. These unique characteristics could render them exceptionally valuable for a new generation of spintronic devices, potentially advancing the processing speed, energy efficiency, and overall capabilities of future information technologies.
The broader scientific significance of the discovery extends well beyond electronics and data storage. Altermagnetism represents a previously unrecognized symmetry class of matter. Its identification has revealed unexpected and profound connections to several major areas of modern physics, including topological phenomena, unconventional superconductivity, and complex quantum materials characterized by strong interactions between electrons.
How Scientists Discovered Altermagnetism
The winding path toward this monumental discovery began with theoretical investigations into unusual ways that electricity moves through complex magnetic materials. Among the early advances that hinted at a deeper mystery was the prediction of the crystal anomalous Hall effect, a specialized phenomenon involving electrical transport properties in specific crystal structures.
Initially, these unexpected behaviors might have easily been dismissed as quirky, isolated features of individual materials. However, the researchers eventually recognized a broader underlying pattern. They realized these phenomena were intimately connected by a fundamental principle involving the symmetries of electron spins.
Rather than representing isolated exceptions to established magnetic behavior, these materials belonged to an entirely different, previously hidden magnetic category.
A major historical milestone came in 2022, when the collaborative team published a comprehensive symmetry classification of altermagnetism. In that landmark publication, they successfully identified hundreds of existing and theoretical materials that could potentially exhibit this novel state.
Experimental physicists subsequently tested these bold predictions using several complementary and cutting-edge methods. These included angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), a sophisticated technique that directly reveals how electrons behave inside materials, alongside precise measurements of electrical transport and magnetic response.
The resulting empirical data definitively confirmed altermagnetic behavior in several key materials, helping firmly establish the new classification within the broader scientific literature.
Interest in the discovery has since expanded at an exponential rate. Hundreds of scientific papers have been published within just a few years, and altermagnetism has rapidly transformed into a prominent, heavily attended subject at major international physics conferences. The fast-growing global research community is now actively investigating both its fundamental quantum properties and its myriad potential technological applications.
Discovery Earns Prestigious 2026 Europhysics Prize
The Europhysics Prize is widely recognized as a premier accolade honoring major advances in condensed matter physics, a broad field concerned with understanding the physical properties, phases, and complex behavior of matter. Established in 1975, the award specifically honors discoveries that have significantly advanced scientific understanding, with a substantial share of the recognized research traditionally conducted in European institutions.
The 2026 prize specifically honors the groundbreaking theoretical and experimental advances that successfully established altermagnetism as a new fundamental form of collinear magnetic order.
The official award ceremony was scheduled for September 2026 at the 32nd General Conference of the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division (CMD32) in Graz, Austria, bringing together leading physicists from across the globe to celebrate the milestone.
The Scientists Behind the Breakthrough
Professor Jairo Sinova is a distinguished professor of physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany and serves as the director of the university’s Spin Phenomena Interdisciplinary Center. His overarching research program investigates advanced magnetism, spintronics, and exotic quantum materials.
Dr. Libor Šmejkal conducted much of the crucial, heavy-lifting theoretical work that led to the identification of altermagnetism while working as a researcher at Mainz University from 2016 to 2024. His current academic affiliations include prestigious appointments at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Professor Tomas Jungwirth is prominently affiliated with the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Nottingham. He has collaborated extensively and fruitfully with Sinova’s Mainz research team, playing a central, visionary role in establishing the foundational theoretical framework of altermagnetism.
Together, their collaborative efforts have successfully uncovered a fundamental property of magnetic matter that completely escaped human recognition for more than a century, ultimately opening an entirely new frontier for research into quantum physics and future electronic technologies.
