Valery Rubakov

Rubakov studied physics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1978. He subsequently began doctoral work at the INR, completing his thesis in 1981.[1]

Rubakov is among the best known of contemporary Russian physical theorists,[2][3] notable for his studies of the cosmological effects of gauge interactions and for the development of novel ideas of space-time and gravity.[4]

Rubakov first came to prominence for monopole catalysis of proton decay, a remarkable insight on contemporary field theory.[5] 't Hooft and Polyakov had shown that some Grand Unified Theories predict the existence of massive magnetic monopoles. Rubakov pointed out such a monopole would induce proton decay, leaving an observable footprint in the form of electron neutrinos. The phenomenon was independently suggested by Curtis Callan and has become known as the Callan-Rubakov effect.[6]

Together with Mikhael Shaposhnikov, Rubakov was one of the first to model spacetime and gravity using ideas from brane cosmology.[7] Rubakov and Shaposhnikov conjectured that we live on a four-dimensional brane embedded in a higher-dimensional universe. Ordinary particles are confined in a potential well which is narrow along the additional dimensions, thereby localizing matter to the brane.[4]

His paper with Shaposhnikov and Vadim Kuzmin on the effect of electroweak non-conservation of baryon and lepton numbers at high temperatures is considered fundamental to modern theory about the early universe.[8]

He is the author of a well-regarded textbook on field theory[9] and has mentored successful scientists such as Dmitry Gorbunov.

Rubakov has been a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1998. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.[10]

In 1999 the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded Rubakov and Kuzmin the Friedmann Prize "for a series of works on the formation of the baryon asymmetry of the universe".[11] He received the 2003 ITEP Pomeranchuk Prize "for pioneering contribution [sic] to developing and novel application of nonperturbative methods in field theory".[2][3] In 2005 he was awarded the INR Markov Prize for fundamental physics with Mikhael Shaposhnikov.[12][4] In 2008 he won the J. Hans D. Jensen Prize of the University of Heidelberg,[13] and the Bruno Pontecorvo Prize "for his essential contributions to the study of close interrelation among particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, and to the elaboration of a fundamentally new theory of physical space".[14] In 2010 he received the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Julius Wess Prize.[15] The award was presented as part of a celebration of 50 years of teaching and research in particle physics at Karlsruhe, at which Rubakov gave a lecture entitled "Towards understanding the origin of inhomogeneities in the Universe" .[16] In 2016 Rubakov was awarded the Demidov Prize "for fundamental theoretical contributions to the foundations of physics: quantum field theory, elementary particle physics, gravity, the theory of the early universe".[17] In 2020 he received the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics,[18] donated with 137.036 Euro.

• Rubakov, V. A. (2002). Classical theory of gauge fields. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05927-3. OCLC 52243621.
• Rubakov, V. A. (14 December 2010). "Towards understanding the origin of inhomogeneities in the universe" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2018.
• Rubakov, V. A.; Gorbunov, D. S. (2011). Introduction to the Theory of the Early Universe: Hot Big Bang Theory. World Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 978-9814343978.
• Rubakov, V. A.; Gorbunov, D. S. (2011). Introduction to the Theory of the Early Universe: Cosmological Perturbations and Inflationary Theory. World Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 978-9814343787.