Valery Anatolievich Rubakov was an outstanding scientist, one of the world’s leading experts in the fields of quantum field theory, elementary particle physics, and cosmology.

He graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University (MSU) in 1978 and did his postgraduate studies at the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he became junior researcher in 1981 and chief researcher in 1994. From 1987 to 1994, Rubakov held the post of Deputy Director for Science of the RAS Institute for Nuclear Research. As Deputy Director, he was responsible for the astrophysical field of the Institute’s activities, including the construction and operation of the INR Baksan Neutrino Observatory, the Baikal Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detector, which allowed obtaining fundamental results on the flux of solar neutrinos. He became a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in 1997.

  1. A. Rubakov was the author of more than 160 scientific papers, many of which made fundamental contributions to the theory of the early Universe, non-perturbative quantum field theory, formation theory of baryon asymmetry of the Universe, quantum gravity. His scientific style perfectly combined a deep insight into the essence of physical phenomena, which allowed qualitatively understanding and explaining them, and a detailed quantitative analysis of the most important phenomenological effects.
  2. A. Rubakov stood at the origins of the modern inflationary theory. He was the first one to realise that studying the Universe today and understood its development history could make it possible to learn new things about physics of high energy particles that are not available to direct experimental observation yet.

For his fruitful scientific work, A. Rubakov received a number of prestigious scientific awards, including the ITEP Pomeranchuk International Prize in 2003, the INR Markov Prize (2005), the Bruno Pontecorvo International Prize (2009), Mikhail Lomonosov Award (2012), the Bogoliubov Prize (2014), the Demidov Prize (2016).

  1. A. Rubakov was an attentive and demanding educator and created his own scientific school on theoretical physics recognised worldwide.

Having a high international reputation, V. A. Rubakov tirelessly promoted the expansion of contacts between Russian scientists and their foreign colleagues. He was a member of the Scientific Councils of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) and of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). He was also a member of IUPAP’s Astroparticle Physics International Committe (Working Group 15).

The wisdom of Valery Rubakov was of universal nature and recognized everywhere. His recent positions against the Russian military offensive in Ukraine (he was one of the first signatories of a manifesto condemning the war) inspired IUPAP in its actions and resolutions on that matter.

IUPAP colleagues and friends deeply mourn his untimely loss and express their sincere condolences to the family and friends. The bright memory of the great scientist will remain forever in our hearts.