MIT Professor Shu-Heng Shao and Alumnus Yifan Wang Awarded 2026 New Horizons in Physics Prize
Former Pappalardo Fellow Benjamin R. Safdi Also Recognized for Separate Research Achievement
CAMBRIDGE, MA — The Breakthrough Prize Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2026 New Horizons in Physics Prize, honoring three researchers with significant ties to the MIT Department of Physics. Assistant Professor Shu-Heng Shao and alumnus Yifan Wang (PhD ’16) were recognized for their collaborative theoretical research, while former Pappalardo Fellow Benjamin R. Safdi was honored for his work in particle astrophysics.
Collaborative Research on Generalized Symmetries
Shu-Heng Shao and Yifan Wang share the $100,000 prize with collaborators Clay Córdova and Thomas Dumitrescu. The group was cited “for generalizing the notion of symmetry in various ways, and for exploring the consequences of these generalized symmetries, in quantum field theory, particle physics, condensed matter physics, string theory, and quantum information theory.”
Their collaborative research focuses on non-invertible symmetries—transformations within quantum systems that do not follow traditional group-theory rules because they lack a mathematical inverse. By utilizing a fusion category framework, Shao and Wang have identified new constraints on renormalization group flows and established novel organizing principles for classifying phases of quantum matter. This work demonstrates that such symmetry structures exist within the Standard Model and lattice gauge theories, providing new methodologies for simulating fundamental particles and identifying quantum anomalies.
Shao joined the MIT faculty in 2024 and is a member of the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics — a Leinweber Institute (CTP-LI). Wang, currently an Assistant Professor at New York University, earned his PhD in Physics from MIT in 2016.
Axion-Like Particle Detection Strategies
In a separate New Horizons in Physics Prize category, Benjamin R. Safdi was recognized “for proposing new methods to seek axion-like particles through laboratory experiments and astronomical observations.”
Safdi’s research utilizes high-energy astronomical environments as natural detectors for dark matter candidates. His work includes using radio emissions from neutron stars to monitor the potential conversion of axions into photons within intense magnetic fields. He has also developed protocols to search for axion-like particle signatures in X-ray data from the cores of white dwarfs.
Safdi conducted this research during his tenure as an MIT Pappalardo Fellow in Physics from 2014 to 2017. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
About the New Horizons Prize
The New Horizons in Physics Prize is awarded annually by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation to early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to fundamental physics. Recipients are selected by committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates. The 2026 awards were presented at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on April 18, 2026.
