Markov prize goes to Bolotov and Obraztsov
Vladimir Bolotov from the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and Vladimir Obraztsov from the Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Protvino have been awarded the Markov prize for 2009. INR established the prize in 2002 in memory of Moisey Alexandrovich Markov, one of the founders of the institute. The awards were made at the 7th Markov Readings held in Moscow on 15 May.
Bolotov and Obraztsov have received the prize for their outstanding contribution to the study of rare meson decays and the creation of the ISTRA+ facility at the IHEP U-70 proton synchrotron. Bolotov, who leads a large collaboration from INR, IHEP and JINR, was responsible for the creation of the ISTRA facility. Obraztsov, who has found a number of rare decays, has worked on experiments at IHEP and at CERN. Both physicists have also contributed a great deal to the creation of new facilities for studying rare decays – ISTRA+ and its successor OKA (Superconducting RF separator emerges from its long sleep) – and put forward an idea to elaborate a new experiment, KLOD, at IHEP to search for the super-rare decay KL 0 → π0νν.
Particle physicists join the ranks of FRS
On 15 May the Royal Society in London announced the election of new fellows, including three leading figures in the field of particle physics. Michael Duff of Imperial College London is elected for his key contributions to developing quantum ideas in supergravity, string theory and M-theory. Fermilab's Keith Ellis is distinguished for his seminal contributions to quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong interactions, having performed many of the key calculations that led to the acceptance of QCD as the correct theory. Art McDonald of Queen's University, Ontario, and director of Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is honoured for his outstanding research in nuclear structure physics, into the charge symmetry of nuclear forces and the influence of the weak interaction on quark interactions.
In addition, Rashid Sunyaev, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and chief scientist of the Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, becomes a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, "as the greatest Russian astrophysicist of our time".
IPS honours Kakodkar with Chugani Award
Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, has received the Indian Physics Association's 2008 M M Chugani Memorial award for excellence in applied physics "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Indian Nuclear Science and Technology". The prize ceremony took place on 11 May, National Technology Day in India, at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai, where Kakodkar received the award from Bikash Sinha, president of the IPA and director of the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. Kakodkar played an important role in the design and construction of the Dhruva reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, where several new technologies related to electron-beam welding, reactive material fabrication and dissimilar metal joints were deployed on a large scale.