The Physics of Fundamental Interactions session and conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the birth of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Valery Rubakov started on 17 February in Moscow. The event is organized by RAS, MEPhI National Research Nuclear University, and the RAS Institute for Nuclear Research with the support of Moscow State University and JINR. About 70 representatives of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research are taking part in the conference.

Valery Rubakov at the 132nd JINR Scientific Council session (2022)

On behalf of the organizing committee, Head of the Nuclear Physics Section of the RAS Physics Division, JINR Scientific Leader, Academician Victor Matveev gave a welcome speech. He wished the participants successful and fruitful work and reminded them of what kind of person Valery Rubakov was: “Extremely fair and principled, he proved himself to be a fighter for honest science. Valery A. Rubakov was a vivid example of dedication to scientific knowledge and desire to study the world. His life and work became an inspiration to all of us who strive for new discoveries and are committed to lofty ideals in the interests of all humankind.”

The scientific programme started with a presentation on physics of extreme light fields by the Scientific Leader of the National Centre for Physics and Mathematics (NCPM), Academician Alexander Sergeev.

During the plenary meeting on the first day of the conference, three employees of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research gave talks. Acting Director of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics at JINR Andrey Butenko spoke about the progress of the NICA Megascience Project and plans for the launch of key modules of the accelerator complex. VBLHEP JINR Chief Researcher Victor Ryabov presented the NICA experimental programme to the participants. Head of the BLTP JINR Hadron Matter Physics Sector Victor Braguta provided a review of current knowledge about the properties of QCD at finite baryon density.

The scientific programme of the event includes 21 plenary and 308 sectional presentations on the main theoretical and experimental issues of fundamental interaction physics:

• particle astrophysics and cosmic rays,
• gravity and cosmology,
• detectors, experiment design, and nuclear physics methods,
• physics beyond the Standard Model,
• accelerators physics and technology,
• neutrino physics,
• fundamental interaction physics,
• fundamental nuclear physics.

The best presentations containing new unpublished results will be issued in Nuclear Physics on the recommendation of the organizing committee.

The Physics of Fundamental Interactions session and conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the birth of RAS Academician Valery Rubakov will take place for 5 days and finish on 21 February. In total, more than 400 researchers from scientific and educational centres of Armenia, Belarus, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, and Uzbekistan are participating.

Video recordings of the presentations of the session and conference are available via the link.