Oleksandr Bakai

By the decision of the Scientific Council of ICMP of National Academy of Science of Ukraine of February 26, 2013, the title Doctor honoris causa was conferred on Oleksandr Bakai (Akhiezer Institute for Theoretical physics, NSC “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology”, Kharkiv) for his outstanding contribution to the theory of plasma, glass and liquids, his developments in the field of materials science for nuclear-power engineering, his activity in supporting the Ukrainian culture and its spread in the world as well as for his close scientific cooperation with the Institute for Condensed Matter Physics of the NAS of Ukraine in the studies of disordered systems, phase transitions and critical phenomena.

O.S. Bakai was born on September 16, 1938 in Kharkiv. Upon graduating from the Kharkiv State University he started to work in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Thechnology where he passed the way from a junior researcher (1961) to the head of the theoretical department (1981). He defended a PhD thesis “The influence of periodical and random disturbances on the nonlinear systems” in 1966 and a doctoral thesis “The problems of theory of nonlinear oscillations and their applications in physics” in 1972.

The scientific interests of O.S. Bakai concern a broad spectrum of research in the field of theoretical physics and condensed matter theory as well as in the field of applied material science for nuclear-power engineering. O.S. Bakai developed a theory of stochastic particle acceleration which is based on the Fermi-Ulam model (in collaboration with O.I. Akhiezer); studied processes of parametric acoustic excitations in ferromagnets at a homogeneous magnetic field (in collaboration with V.G. Bar'yakhtar); studied turbulence phenomena in liquids and plasma (in collaboration with Yu.S. Stigov). He obtained important results in the study of excitation and controlled relaxation oscillation mechanisms in the beam-plasma system; nonlinear dynamics and a theory of plasma; structural and dynamic properties of metal glass and glass-forming liquids. Prof. Bakai’s theoretical works laid the foundation for physics of structural phase transitions under radioactive irradiation. He was an organizer of the research center for the study of irradiation effects on construction alloy corrosion in molten salts.

O.S. Bakai is an author of almost 300 scientific publications and 4 monographs. His scientific works were awarded by the State award of Ukraine in Science and Technology (1992) and by the O.I. Leipunsky prize of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2008). In 2009, O.S. Bakai was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Brilliant skills in the modern methods of theoretical physics, a profound erudition in different areas of science and culture, an active participation in social life of Ukraine are the distinguishing features of O.S. Bakai’s personality. He is the full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (2007), a doctor honoris causa of the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics (2010), a Soros professor (1996), a laureate of the K.D. Sinelnikov stipend (2003), a member of Editorial Boards of many scientific journals, in particular, “Journal of Physical Studies”, “Metallofizika i novjeishyje tekhnologij, “Problems of Atomic Science and Technology”, “Uspekhi physiki metallov”, “Low Temperature Physics”, “Physical surface engineering”.