Valery Anatolyevich Rubakov (February 16, 1955, Moscow — October 19, 2022, Sarov) was a Soviet and Russian theoretical physicist, a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1997), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and one of the world's leading specialists in quantum field theory, elementary particle physics, and cosmology. He died in Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1]

Scientific Work

Rubakov graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, defending his diploma thesis in 1978 at the department headed by N. N. Bogolyubov. He then entered the graduate program at the Institute for Nuclear Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences (INR), where in 1981, under the supervision of N. V. Krasnikov and A. N. Tavkhelidze, he defended his candidate's dissertation, "Vacuum Structure in Gauge Models of Quantum Field Theory."[1] He worked at the INR from 1978, rising from diploma student to chief researcher in the Department of Theoretical Physics (1994), and then to full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1997). From 1987 to 1994 he served as deputy director for scientific work.[1]

Rubakov is the author of more than 200 scientific papers, as well as textbooks on cosmology and classical field theory.[2] Among his key scientific results are the first formulation of the concept of monopole catalysis of proton decay in grand unified theories (1981); a mechanism, proposed together with co-authors, of rapid electroweak non-conservation of baryon and lepton numbers at high temperatures and densities; and the prediction of the possibility of electroweak baryon number non-conservation in the decays of heavy particles. With co-authors, he obtained model-independent limits on the rate of cosmological expansion in the theory of the inflating Universe and clarified the relationship between canonical quantum gravity and quantum field theory in curved spacetime.[1]

Rubakov stood at the origins of modern inflationary theory and made a foundational contribution to the theory of the early Universe, including the origin of baryon asymmetry, quantum cosmology, inflation and its alternatives, as well as to non-perturbative quantum field theory and physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles.[2] For many years he lectured at the Moscow State University department, and he was one of the organizers of international conferences on quantum gravity, the "Quarks" seminars, and the "Particles and Cosmology" school for physicists.[1]

Recognition and Awards

Rubakov received numerous scientific prizes and awards: the Gold Medal with a prize for young scientists of the USSR Academy of Sciences / Russian Academy of Sciences (1985), the A. A. Friedmann Prize (1999), the title of Honored Professor of Moscow State University (1999), the I. Ya. Pomeranchuk Prize of ITEP (2003), the Academician M. A. Markov Prize (2005), the Julius Wess Prize (2010), and the M. V. Lomonosov Prize (2012). In 2007 he was awarded a commemorative badge for the 30th anniversary of Troitsk, and in 2013 he was named "Person of the Year" in Troitsk in the categories "Science" and "City and Society"; he was also entered in the Book of Honor (2001).[1]

Sources

  1. new.inr.ru — Rubakov Valery Anatolyevich
  2. teach-in.ru — Rubakov Valery Anatolyevich — Open Video Lectures of Moscow State University Courses