One of Europe's highest distinctions in condensed matter physics has been awarded for a discovery that is reshaping our understanding of magnetism: The 2026 Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society (EPS) Condensed Matter Division goes to Professor Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Dr. Libor Šmejkal, and Professor Tomas Jungwirth for their discovery of altermagnetism – a previously unknown fundamental class of magnetism. The prize recognizes their groundbreaking work establishing that nature hosts a third elementary form of collinear magnetism in addition to ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. The discovery overturns a century-old understanding of magnetic order and has opened an entirely new research field with major implications for quantum materials, condensed matter physics, and future information technologies.
"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 long-established partnership between Sinova’s team at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Professor Tomas Jungwirth's group at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague played a central role in the development of altermagnetism. While jointly affiliated with Prague, Dr. Libor Šmejkal worked in Mainz from 2016 until 2024, first as a doctoral researcher and later as a postdoctoral scientist in Professor Jairo Sinova's research group. During these eight years at JGU, he led the development of many of the theoretical concepts that ultimately culminated in the discovery of altermagnetism. The team combined modern symmetry theory with spintronics to reveal a fundamentally new type of magnetic order. Their theoretical predictions rapidly inspired experimental confirmations around the world, including spectroscopic and transport observations in several materials. Today, altermagnetism has become one of the fastest-growing research areas in condensed matter physics, with research programs now spanning Europe, North America, and Asia.
Rewriting physics textbooks
For over a century, physicists assumed that all collinear magnets belonged to one of two categories. Ferromagnets possess a net magnetization and are the foundation of modern magnetic memory technologies. Conventional antiferromagnets, while magnetically compensated, exhibit fundamentally different electronic properties.
The discovery of altermagnetism revealed a third possibility: materials that possess no net magnetization like antiferromagnets while simultaneously exhibiting electronic properties previously thought exclusive to ferromagnets. This unique combination enables highly spin-polarized electrical currents together with ultrafast magnetic dynamics, making altermagnets attractive candidates for next-generation spintronic devices.
Beyond technological applications, the discovery has profound implications for fundamental physics. Altermagnetism establishes a new symmetry class of matter and provides unexpected connections to topological physics, unconventional superconductivity, and strongly correlated quantum materials.
From theoretical prediction to a worldwide field of research
The first steps toward the discovery of altermagnetism emerged from earlier theoretical work on unconventional magnetic transport phenomena, including the prediction of the crystal anomalous Hall effect. The researchers subsequently recognized that these unusual properties reflected not isolated material-specific behavior, but an entirely new magnetic phase governed by previously overlooked spin symmetries.
In 2022, they introduced the complete symmetry classification of altermagnetism and identified hundreds of candidate materials. Since then, experimental groups worldwide have confirmed the existence of altermagnetism using multiple complementary techniques, including angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and electrical transport measurements.
The field has expanded extraordinarily rapidly, with hundreds of publications appearing in only a few years – and altermagnetism becoming a major topic at international conferences.
The EPS Europhysics Prize – a prestigious European distinction
The EPS Europhysics Prize is among Europe's most prestigious awards in condensed matter physics. Presented since 1975, it recognizes outstanding discoveries that have significantly advanced the field, with a substantial portion of the research carried out in Europe.
The prize will be presented during the 32nd General Conference of the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division (CMD32) in Graz, Austria, in September 2026.
About the laureates
Professor Jairo Sinova is Professor of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany and Director of the Spin Phenomena Interdisciplinary Center (SPICE) at JGU. His research focuses on spintronics, quantum materials, and magnetism.
Dr. Libor Šmejkal carried out the decisive theoretical work leading to the discovery of altermagnetism while working at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from 2016 to 2024. He is currently affiliated with 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 Thomas Jungwirth is based at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of Nottingham and has been a long-standing collaborator with the Mainz research team.
More information in the EPS press release at https://eps.org/2026-eps-europhysics-prize-for-outstanding-achievement-in-condensed-matter-physics-announced/
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