ON THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTOR EVGENYEVICH PANIN

November 10, 2015, marks the 85th anniversary of the birth of Academician V.E. Panin, an outstanding contemporary scientist in the fields of physics and mechanics of deformable solids and physical materials science. He graduated with honors from the Physics Department of Tomsk State University (TSU) in 1952, and completed his postgraduate studies in 1955, defending his PhD dissertation. From 1955 to 1979, he worked at the Siberian Physicotechnical Institute (SPTI) at TSU as a senior research fellow and then as head of the Department of Metal Physics. In 1967, he defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and in 1971, he was awarded the academic title of professor.
In 1979, V.E. Panin and a group of his colleagues from the Siberian Physics and Technology Institute moved to the Institute of Atmospheric Optics of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he established and headed the Department of Solid State Physics and Materials Science. Five years later, on the basis of this department, he organized the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science (ISPMS) of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, of which he served as Director from its founding until 2002. In 2002, V.E. Panin was appointed Scientific Director of the Institute by a resolution of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and currently serves as the Head of a Laboratory and Advisor to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1981, he was elected a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1987, a Full Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. On the initiative and with the active participation of V.E. In 1985, the Republican Engineering and Technical Center for the Restoration and Strengthening of Machine Parts and Mechanisms (RITC) was established at the Institute of Materials Science and Materials Physics of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1991, the Russian Materials Science Center was organized on the basis of the Institute and the materials science departments of Tomsk universities. The scientific and technical complex of the Institute of Materials Science and Materials Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the RITC at the Institute of Materials Science and Materials Physics had the status of a State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation from 1994 to 1997.

Under the leadership of Academician V.E. Panin, a new scientific field—physical mesomechanics of materials—was created and developed. It organically unites continuum mechanics (macroscale), plastic deformation physics (microscale), and physical materials science. He formulated and theoretically and experimentally substantiated the fundamental principles of physical mesomechanics. A solid subject to external influences is described as a multi-level, hierarchically organized system in which all processes develop self-consistently at the nano-, micro-, meso-, and macroscale levels. Surface layers and internal interfaces are considered important functional subsystems. The fundamental role of the nanoscale structural level, which determines the nature of structural transformations during the formation of all types of deformation defects, is demonstrated. Hierarchical self-consistency of all scales of deformation defects, including cracks, is described based on the dependence of the Gibbs thermodynamic potential on the molar volume of the material, taking into account local zones of hydrostatic tension where deformation defects nucleate. As the Gibbs thermodynamic potential approaches zero, two-phase pre-transition nanostructural states arise in a nonequilibrium material, which form the basis of nanoengineering. A fundamentally new fracture model is proposed, according to which a crack initiates as a thermodynamic decomposition of a crystal in a local zone where the Gibbs thermodynamic potential becomes greater than zero. Crack propagation can only occur through zones of highly nonequilibrium nanostructural states. The initiation of fatigue failure is associated with the development of closed vortices of localized plastic deformation in the surface layer. Under elastic load, fatigue cracks initiate in closed vortices of plastic deformation. Fatigue life decreases with increasing scale of closed vortices of localized plastic deformation in the surface layer of the material. It has been shown that tribocouplings are analogous to a Bridgman chamber, where nanostructured states arise and nanostructured phases are synthesized. Controlling this process can significantly improve the wear resistance of materials.

Based on these concepts, V.E. Panin and his colleagues developed fundamentally new methods for creating materials for various purposes and methods for strengthening them. They also uncovered new patterns in material behavior under various loading conditions, enabling the diagnosis of the pre-failure stage of structures. This new interdisciplinary field of science emerged in Tomsk and continued the glorious traditions of Academician V.D. Kuznetsov's Tomsk School of Solid State Physics. V.E. Panin devotes considerable attention to teaching and training research personnel, serving as the head of the Department of Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering at Tomsk Polytechnic University, a consulting professor at Tomsk State University, and chairman of the Dissertation Council for the Defense of Doctoral and Candidate's Dissertations at the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science SB RAS. V.E. Panin is the head of a leading scientific school supported by grants from the President of the Russian Federation. Among his students are 15 doctors of science and over 130 candidates of science.
V.E. Panin is involved in extensive scientific and organizational work: he is a member of the Bureau of the Joint Institute for Electromechanics, Mechanics, and Control Processes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Joint Scientific Council on Power Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics, and Control Processes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Presidium of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, three Scientific Councils of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the editorial boards of six scientific journals, and the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal "Physical Mesomechanics."
The research results of V.E. Panin and his colleagues have received wide international recognition. The International Research Center "Physical Mesomechanics of Materials" was established at the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the international journal "Physical Mesomechanics" is published in Russian and English (by Elsevier). Panin is a co-chairman and a member of the organizing committees of international conferences on mesomechanics, which are held annually in various countries. In 1999 he was elected a foreign member of the NAS of Belarus, in 2009 – a foreign member of the NAS of Ukraine, in 2002 he was awarded the Academician V.A. Koptyug Prize together with a team of authors by a joint resolution of the NAS of Belarus and the SB RAS. V.E. Panin's services have been recognized by state awards: the medal "For Valiant Labor" (1970), two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1981, 1986), the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (1998), and the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I degree (2007). He was awarded the Honorary Silver Order of Public Recognition and the badge of distinction "For Services to the Tomsk Region." He was also awarded the titles of "Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation" and "Honorary Citizen of the City of Tomsk." He also received the 2009 M.A. Lavrentyev Foundation Prize in the category "For Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Research in Mathematics, Mechanics, and Applied Physics."

Our university, the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science SB RAS, and Academician V.E. Panin have maintained close scientific contacts since my doctoral studies in the late 1980s. I am proud to be a co-author of a joint publication with Viktor Evgenievich – the article "Deformation Channels under Electrically Stimulated Drawing" (V.E. Gromov, V.E. Panin, E.V. Kozlov, Yu.F. Ivanov, Yu.P. Sharkeev, G.V. Pushkareva // Metallophysics. 1991. Vol. 13. No. 1. pp. 27–34).
The 1980s and 1990s were marked by increased research interest in the study of the electroplastic effect. In our work, we demonstrated that under conditions of severe plastic deformation, even low-carbon steels can develop regions with an ultrafine structure, or, as they now call it, a nanostructure. These are the so-called strain localization channels. In these regions, the substructure is fragmented, the fragment sizes are much smaller than in the bulk of the material, and range from 10 to 20 nm. Under electrically stimulated drawing, channel formation is more intense; they appear at earlier stages, and their volume fraction and linear dimensions are larger. Deformation localization in channels is one of the reasons for the increased plasticity under current exposure. Studying the mechanisms of electroplastic deformation is not a core research area of ​​the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science SB RAS. However, Viktor Evgenievich always keeps abreast of new trends in solid-state physics, maintaining their integrity.

SibSIU and the Institute of Socio-Physical Problems and Materials Science SB RAS have a scientific and technical cooperation agreement. Our university's Department of Physics named after Professor V.M. Finkel operates at the Institute of Socio-Physical Problems and Materials Science SB RAS. Over the past five years alone, three international conferences, "The Influence of External Factors on the Strength and Ductility of Metals and Alloys," have been jointly held in Tomsk, Shenzhen, and Barnaul. Several articles have been published in the journal "Physical Mesomechanics" published by the Institute of Socio-Physical Problems and Materials Science SB RAS. More than ten scientists from our university have defended their candidate and doctoral dissertations at the Institute of Socio-Physical Problems and Materials Science SB RAS, four of whom are still working within its walls. And all this is under the supervision of Viktor Evgenievich.
In recent years, our research has been focused on studying the mechanisms and physical nature of structural-phase changes and the defective substructure of metals and alloys during electroexplosive alloying and subsequent electron-beam processing. And here we found support and understanding in the person of Viktor Evgenievich. His consultations and constructive criticism are extremely useful for us. A particularly important event for us was the presentation by V.E. Panin of our article "The mechanism of formation of high adhesion of electroexplosive coatings with a metal base" in DAN - Reports of the Academy of Sciences - the best physics journal in Russia today (Budovskikh E.A., Gromov V.E., Romanov D.A. // Reports of the Academy of Sciences. 2013. Vol. 449. No. 1. pp. 25-27). He never looked down on university science, and his support during the most challenging times for Russian science inspired hundreds of young scientists who doubted the path they had chosen.

V.E. Panin has a keen understanding of the pain points and trends of modern science; he knows, understands, and solves the problems of research staff. He has always been attentive and responsive to his students, among whom I count myself. He possesses rare and remarkable qualities for someone with such a busy schedule. He is a true scientist, passionate about ideas, forward-looking, analyzing, and meticulously systematizing facts. He is an innovator whose work forms the foundation of nanoengineering. At the same time, he possesses, in modern parlance, managerial qualities: he possesses a genius for organization and the ability to inspire and motivate people.

I am confident that V.E. Panin, head of the Department of Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering at Tomsk Polytechnic University and a consulting professor at Tomsk State University, has opened thousands of windows into science. Apparently, this is his calling: to discover, inspire, and organize.
On behalf of his many colleagues and students, I heartily congratulate Viktor Evgenievich Panin on his glorious anniversary and wish him good health, happiness, and continued creative success!