Contributions to Plasma Physics ( IF 1.6 ) Pub Date : 2021-01-17 , DOI: 10.1002/ctpp.202000262 Michael Bonitz 1 , Werner Ebeling 2 , Vladimir S. Filinov 3
On November 29, 2020 Vladimir E. Fortov passed away from Covid‐19. International plasma physics lost one of its main figures who had a decisive influence on many key developments in the area of nonideal plasmas over more than 40 years. V. E. Fortov shaped the field of high‐pressure physics contributing original concepts to compression experiments and plasma diagnostics but also actively supporting progress in theoretical modelling. He had a tremendous influence on the development of physics in Russia and on German–Russian Scientific collaborations.
Scientific Career of Vladimir Fortov
Plasma physics has suffered a great loss: at the age of just 74 years, Vladimir Evgenevich Fortov—one of the leading scientists of our field, a man of great intellectual and physical strength—passed away on November 29, 2020 in Moscow from a Covid‐19 infection. The authors had the great privilege to work together with Vladimir Fortov in plasma physics for many years which led to numerous joint scientific articles and books. But we were also lucky to be good friends with him and get to know and value his unusual personality.
Vladimir Fortov was born on January 23, 1946 in Noginsk, Moscow region. He studied physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technnology (PhysTech) from 1962 to 1968. After receiving the diploma, he joined the Institute of Chemical Physics (IPCP) in Chernogolovka where he graduated with a PhD in 1971. His path into science was influenced by leading Soviet scientists. The invitation to join IPCP came from the director Nikolai N. Semjonov (Nobel laureate in chemistry 1956) where he joined the group of Lev V. Altshuler and Yakov B. Zeldovich. In 1976, he received the second doctorate (doctor of science, habilitation) from the Academy of Sciences (AN) for the thesis “Physics of strongly coupled plasmas produced by strong shock waves”. Already in 1978 he became a professor of physics and chemistry at the Academy of Sciences. In 1986, he became head of the Laboratory for High Temperatures at the Institute for High Temperature Physics (IVTAN) of the Academy, and in 1992 he was appointed director of IVTAN. In 1991, he also became professor at PhysTech.
Vladimir E. Fortov's Role in Russian Science
V. E. Fortov was living for science and did everything he could to support science in Russia. He was convinced that a healthy country needs strong and independent science. During the crisis, after the end of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Fortov was a key figure in creating the Russian Foundation for Basic Research which has been supporting many thousands of Russian researchers for more than a quarter of a century and helped to preserve many excellent scientific activities and to stimulate new ones. During the chaotic years of B. Yelzin's presidency in Russia, V. E. Fortov was ready to take over high political duties: he served as head of the State Commission on Science and Technology, and he was minister for Science and vice prime minister of the Russian Federation (Figure 1).
Vladimir Fortov was also very active in the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) after becoming a corresponding member in 1987 and a full member in 1991. He was elected vice president of the Academy 1996–2001 and became president in 2013. As many of his colleagues, V. E. Fortov recognized the need for fundamental reforms and put forward a detailed set of measures. This was at a time of extreme external pressure on RAN. He was able to preserve the RAN, however, it turned out impossible to implement the reforms he envisaged. Instead of being re‐elected in 2017, V. E. Fortov unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy. Since then he served as a secretary of RAN and as scientific director of IVTAN.
German–Russian Collaboration in Nonideal Plasmas
One of us (W. E.) recalls his first meeting with the just 33‐year‐old Vladimir Fortov in Moscow in 1979, that led to his invitation to a scientific seminar on “Statistical Physics and Nonideal Plasmas” in Lähnwitz near Güstrow (GDR) where V. E. Fortov gave a talk. This was the start for many collaborations, and the first result was a joint book of the seminar participants on transport properties of dense plasmas to which Fortov contributed a beautiful text “Experiments and Physical Models of a Strongly Nonideal Plasma.”[1] In spring 1980 Fortov visited Berlin and gave a talk at the Physics Department of Humboldt University. He was an energetic and strong man who always followed a clear plan. The night he spent in W. E.'s flat but, when invited to breakfast at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, Fortov was gone. He returned at 8:15 a.m. with a watch in his hand and said: “I checked whether the nearby supermarket and other shops open on time. Indeed they opened at 8 sharp, that's German punctuality, that's how it should also be in Russian Institutes.” It was evident to the hosts that he knew exactly what was important and that he would go on to have a great career. In later years, Vladimir Fortov was a regular participant of the subsequent bi‐annual workshops on the Physics of Nonideal Plasmas, as well as, later, of the bigger Conferences on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems (a photo from the most recent conference is in Figure 2). Vladimir was a big fan of the Berlin beer and would regularly order his favourite beer together with an Eisbein (traditional German knuckle of pork).
W. E. also remembers many visits to Moscow and in Chernogolovka where he enjoyed the great hospitality of Vladimir and Tanja Fortov with great Russian food and, of course, toasts and vodka. Memorable was also his driving cars: very fast but safe. Once the car was stopped by the police. Vladimir stepped out and looked very serious at the policemen who was half his size, and presented several red IDs (“propusks”). A second later, Vladimir started the car and continued with the same speed.
In V. E. Fortov's own group and everywhere in the Institute he was very highly respected. W. E. recalls the very fruitful scientific discussions with his closest collaborators V. Gryaznov, P. Levashov, and V. Minzev. Particularly memorable was a demonstration of their huge detonation chamber. V. Minzev had setup a gigantic explosion for W. E. demonstrating their way to generate dense matter and which W. E. had the honour to start. The guest was in horror about the giant explosion but Vladimir held him and calmed him down. Vladimir gave W. E. the result of the experiment—a heavy completely destroyed projectile looking like a nice flower made of steel a photo of which is shown in Figure 3.
Selected Scientific Results
Here we do not intend to give a complete overview on Vladimir Fortov's more than 900 scientific papers but present only a few examples. He produced a remarkable number of 30 monographs. Most of them are in the field of nonideal plasmas and had a great influence on the Russian and international communities. Many of the books were written together with his German colleagues. The first joint book of W. E. with V. E. Fortov was “Thermophysical properties of hot dense plasmas” written together with Andreas Förster, Viktor Gryaznov, and Alexander Polishchuk.[2] Preparing the book all authors came to Berlin and looked at the last pieces of the Berlin wall. The subsequent joint books and papers were written mostly together with Vladimir Filinov and have an English and a Russian version, for example, Ebeling et al.[3] and Fortov et al.[4]
Vladimir Fortov's main activity was in the field of dense nonideal plasmas where he developed original experimental techniques. But he was also interested in theory and simulation and actively promoted theory development. This has led to a large number of joint publications with the present authors, for example, Filinov et al.[5] and Bonitz et al.[6] But V. E. Fortov's interests were very broad, extending also to dusty plasmas, condensed matter systems including electron–hole plasmas and jellium, for example, Bonitz et al.[6] and Filinov et al.[7] and even to high‐energy physics including the quark‐gluon plasma, for example, Filinov et al.[8]
Personal Life
V. E. Fortov was a man of many talents who was looking for challenges, always striving for the maximum. He was a passionate hiker and mountain climber. He climbed Mount Everest and participated in expeditions to the Antarctic. He participated in a journey to the North Pole on the nuclear submarine “Volk” (wulf), and he reached the one mile deep bottom of lake Baikal with the diving apparatus “Mir.” V. E. Fortov was an active and successful sportsman practicing downhill skiing, and playing basketball (with a title “master of sports”). He was captain of a sailing yacht and cruised Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope. V. E. Fortov is married and has one daughter.
For a long time Vladimir had the dream to cruise with his boat the Baltic Sea to visit his German plasma physics friends in Born (Darss peninsula), Rostock and Kiel. This he sketched already in 1994 in W. E.'s guest book, see Figure 4, and kept discussing during later visits. Interestingly, the note in the guest book contains the words “vsjo prokhodit—everything goes by.” The cruise did not happen, though, partly because his yacht turned out too deep for the shallow coast. But using a smaller boat was not an option for him. This is metaphoric for Vladmir's whole life: he was a courageous man of bold ideas, visions, and big projects. It is remarkable how much he could accomplish, leaving plenty to do for those who are left behind.