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Academician Vladimir E. Fortov


Curriculum vitae:

Date and place of birth: January 23, 1946, Noginsk, Moscow Region, USSR

Nationality: Russian

Marital Status: Married, has a daughter


Education and degrees:

1962 - 1968 - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, student

1968 - M.Sc., Diploma specialty “Space Research and Plasma Thermodynamics”

1968 - 1971 - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, postgraduate student

1971 - PhD degree, the Thesis “The Physics of Intense Shock Waves in Dense Plasmas”

1977 - Degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, the Thesis “Physics

of Strongly Coupled Plasmas”

1982 - Professor in the field of Chemical Physics and Plasma Physics

1987 - Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences

1991 - Member of Russian Academy of Sciences



Professional records:

  • 1971 - present - Junior Researcher, Senior Researcher, Head of Laboratory, Head of Departmentof the Institute of Chemical Physics Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • 1986 - 1992 - Head of Laboratory of Institute for High Temperatures of USSR Academy of Sciences
  • 1990 - present - Professor and Chief of High Energy Density Physics Chair of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
  • 1992 - 2007 - Director of Institute for High Energy Density, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • 1993 - 1997 - Chairman of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research
  • 1996 - 1997 - Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation,. Chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology
  • 1997-1998 - Minister of Science and Technology of Russian Federation,
  • 1998 - 2005 - Chair of National Commission of Russian Federation on UNESCO affairs
  • 2005 - present - Vice-Chair of National Commission of Russian Federation on UNESCO affairs
  • 1996 - 2001 - Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • 2001 - present - Head of Department of Energetics, Machinery, Mechanics and ControlSystems, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • 2007 - present - Director of Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences


Membership and Merits:

  • Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1991)

  • Member-representative of Russia in Executive Committee of International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT)

  • Vice-President of International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT) - 1993

  • Member of International Planetary Society – 1996

  • Member of International Academy of Astronautics (Basic Sciences), Paris – 2000

  • Member of European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Paris - 1997

  • Member of Academia Europaea (Physics, Engineering, Material Sciences), London – 1998

  • Member of Max Plank Society, Germany - 2000

  • Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation – 2001

  • Honorary Member of the American Physical Society - 2001

  • Foreign Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering - 2002

  • Foreign Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, England – 2003

  • Foreign Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, Sweden – 2004

  • Member of International Advisory Committee of IMPRESS Project, European Space Agency – 2005

  • Member of the UNESCO IBSP Scientific Board - 2005

  • Honorary Doctor of Rostock University, Germany - 2006

  • Chairman of Scientific Council “Low Temperature Plasma”, Russian Academy of Sciences

  • Chairman of Russian Academy Council on Thermophysics – 2004

  • Honorary Professor of Ben-Gurion University - 2009

  • Member of the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research – 2009

  • Visiting Professor of Dept. of Physics of Imperial College, London – 2009

  • Dr. Phil. Nat. Honoris Causa of Frankfurt University – 2010

  • Member of the Skolkovo innovation center scientific and advisory council – 2010

  • Member of Editorial Board of International Journal “Pressure Research”, Gordon and Breach

  • Member of Editorial Board of International Journal “Physics of High Energy Density”, Gordon and Breach

  • Member of Advisory Board of Journal “Contributions to Plasma Physics”

  • Member of Editorial Board of Journals of Institute of Physics, England

  • Chairman of Editorial Board of Russian Journal “Teplophyzica. Visokih Temperarur” (“High Temperature”, Springer)


Russian awards:

  • Order of Red Banner, 1986, for investigation in physics and computational mathematics;

  • USSR State Award, 1988, in physics and mathematics for protection systems and space impact experiments in international project Vega of Halley Comet experiment exploration ;

  • Order “For Merits for Fatherland” of 4th degree, 1996;

  • State Award of Russian Federation, 1997, for investigation of high current Z-pinch and extreme state of matter research;

  • Award of the Government of Russian Federation, 1997, for generation of intense thermal and shock waves by X-rays

  • Award of the Government of Russian Federation, 1999, for the investigation and construction of devices for transformation of chemical detonation energy into the pulsed electrical and electromagnetic radiation currents

  • Order “For Merits for Fatherland” of 3rd degree, 1999

  • Award of the Government of Russian Federation, 2003

  • Order of Honor of Russian Federation, 2007

  • Award of the Government of Russian Federation, 2010

  • Order of Friendship of Russian Federation, 2010

  • Acad. N.N. Semenov Gold Medal of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2008

  • Acad. I.V. Kurchatov Gold Medal of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011

  • A.G. Stoletov Prize in Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011



International awards:

  • A.P. Karpinsky-Toepfer Scientific Award, 1997, in Physics and Chemistry

  • P. Bridgeman Prize, 1999 for Achievements in High Pressure Physics and Chemistry,

  • Max-Plank Award in Physics for Pioneering Investigations of Strongly Coupled Plasmas, 2002

  • Hannes Alfven Prize in Plasma Physics for Outstanding Research of High Energy Density Plasmas, 2003

  • G. Duvall APS Award in Shock Compression Science for Pioneering Research in High Energy Density Physics, 2005

  • A.Einstein’s Gold Medal of UNESCO for Achievements in Science and International Collaboration, 2005

  • Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) for Achievements in Science, 2006

  • Honoured Legion Order, France, 2006

  • Glass Memory Award for Achievements in Shock Wave Science, 2009

  • International St. Andrew the First-called Prize, 2010



Professor Vladimir E. Fortov belongs to the scientists whose works determine the modern state of physical science in such fields as space physics, physics of high energy density, thermophysical properties of matter in extreme states, physics of nonideal plasmas and chemical physics, conversion of explosion energy to electromagnetic radiation etc.

V.E. Fortov was one of the firsts who applied the strong shock waves for generation and investigation of physical and chemical properties of matter under extreme pressures and temperatures closed to that in the stellar and planet interior. To generate intense shock waves the broad spectrum of drivers was used, including chemical high explosives, light gas guns, lasers, relativistic electrons, light and heavy ions beams. The experimental devices were equipped by informative fast (up to 10-8 - 10-9 sec) diagnostics - laser interferometers, multi-channel pyrometers, spectrometers, optical streak cameras and other sensors. Under his supervision the experimental investigations of physical and chemical properties of matter in a wide range of phase diagram from highly compressed solids and liquids to the gas and plasmas including metal-insulator transition region and near-critical states of metals were performed.

He was the first to carry out the detailed measurements of physical properties of dense plasma under strong coulomb interparticle interaction - equation of state, plasma compositions, opacity and optical spectrum, reflectivity and electrical conductivity and chemical reaction rate. In experiments the intense shock waves were used for investigations of fast dynamics of solids, mechanical properties of solids and kinetics of chemical high explosives decompositions in shock and detonation waves.

Under his supervision the means of spacecraft protection against the impact of dust particles were elaborated and the complex of diagnostic plasmas devices in the framework of the international project “Vega” was created. In the implementation of this project the physical and computational models of the destruction of protection shields of the spacecraft “Vega” under the impact of high-velocity micrometeorites were developed and corresponding numerical calculations were conducted. The half-empirical wide-range equations of state were built and rheological relations were proposed to describe the properties of construction materials in megabar pressure range at short pulse loading, the sizes of craters and through holes in protection shields in dependence on mass and density of dust particles were calculated. The sizes and velocities of spall elements as well as the parameters of plasma jets and phase composition of destruction products were determined. The unique direct full-scale experiment in high-velocity micrometeorite impact on the protection shield was conducted on the board of spacecraft “Vega”. In this experiment the specially developed optoelectronic instrument “Foton”, recording the energy and duration of light flash, the size of holes made by dust particles in thin metal foil and the magnitude of momentum transmitted to the shield, was used.

V.E. Fortov initiated and was at the head of the performance of large-scale computational experiment aimed at prediction and a posteriori analysis of consequences of the unique astronomical event - the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter. This study allowed to predict the most important manifestations of the impact. The creation long-lived vortical structures of 103 km size in Jovian atmosphere was described, the generation of optical flashes at comet fragment explosion was found. The generation of internal gravitational waves by rising explosion cloud which stimulated condensation in troposphere and leaded to anomalies in the planet system of clouds was predicted. The perturbations of ionosphere and magnetosphere as a result of comet fragment movement and explosion were discovered in simulations. The anomalies in radio-frequency radiation from the radiative zone of Jupiter, especially, in magnetic vector tubes going through impact region, and the special features of Jovian atmosphere luminescence in optical, infrared- and radio-ranges were also predicted. The important element of the research consisted of the elaboration of adequate physical models of different stages of the impact and the detailed description of entry in atmosphere, deformation, break-up and subsequent explosion of comet fragments.

Under supervision of professor V.E. Fortov the complex of basic studies of the formation of quasi-crystalline ordered structures in dusty plasmas of different origin was conducted. For the first time ordered structures of long cylindrical particles in the direct current glow-discharge plasma have been obtained. It has been revealed that, in contradistinction to spherical dust grains forming the dusty plasma Coulomb crystal, cylindrical particles form the structure, which is similar to the liquid crystal. The self-excitation of low frequency oscillations of density in ordered dusty structures of the gas-discharge plasma has been discovered. Models of an appearance of dust-acoustic plasma oscillations have been developed. For the first time ordered structures of microparticles in the nuclear-induced dusty plasma, produced by products of nuclear reactions, have been obtained. The model of charging dust grains by drifting flows of electrons and ions generated in tracks of alpha particles and fission fragments has been developed. For the first time there have been obtained ordered structures of charged dust particles in the glow-discharge plasma and high-frequency capacitive discharge plasma at cryogenic temperatures in the case of cooling the discharge tube by liquid nitrogen. The influence of neutral gas temperature gradient on dusty plasma structures in the glow discharge positive column has been studied. It has been shown that thermophoresis forces due to temperature gradient are comparable with radial electric fields and determine conditions of a formation and a different form of dusty plasma structures. The physical and mathematical models of this phenomenon have been developed. For the first time there have been performed experiments and received initial results on excitation and registration of shock waves in the dusty component of the low temperature plasma. On the board of the orbital space station “Mir” there have been made unique experimental investigations of dusty plasma induced by solar ultra-violet radiation and direct current glow discharge dusty plasma. The continuation of the space experiment “Plasma crystal” has been performed on the board of International Space Station in March 2001. The experiment has been prepared in scientific collaboration with the Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics of Max-Planck Society (Germany). The unique data on basic aspects of a formation and physical properties of ordered structures of charged dust particles (dusty-plasma crystal) in the strongly coupled plasma under microgravity conditions have been obtained.

Professor V.E. Fortov was one of the firsts to develop theoretical basics of the construction of wide-range equations of state (EOS) for materials under extreme conditions (i.e. high pressures and temperatures). Up-to-date he and his disciples have elaborated wide-range EOS for more than 150 practically important chemically inert and active materials, which widely used in simulation of the interaction of high energy fluxes with matter. He is responsible for much of the new results on detonation and combustion, development of hydrodynamic instabilities, processes of high-velocity impact etc.





Academician Vladimir E. Fortov