To the memory of my untimely deceased younger son Fyodor Basko
Full name: BASKO Mikhail Mikhailovich
E-mail address: mmbasko@kiam.ru
Qualifications: PhD (1974), Doctor of Sciences (doktor fiz.-mat. nauk, 1996) in theoretical physics
Occupation: physicist, leading researcher at the
Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (KIAM),
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Work address: KIAM, Miusskaya Square 4, 125047 Moscow
Tel: +7 499 250 79 08
Fax: +7 499 972 07 37
My research career can be divided into two distinct periods. Starting from September 1971 and until December 1979, I was working in the field of astrophysics (in the group headed by Prof. Ya.B. Zel'dovich at the Institute for Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) on the theory of binary X-ray stars, accretion physics, and physics of radiation transport in cosmic surroundings. It was in this field that I obtained my PhD degree in 1974. To learn more about my astrophysics years, click here .
In December 1979 I accepted the position of a senior researcher at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) and changed the field to the physics of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high energy density in matter. For many years I believed that I would stay at ITEP till the end of my professional life. However, in the years 2010-2012 the fate of ITEP took a sudden fatal turn as the institute was included into the "patrimony" of M.V. Kovalchuk as a subdivision of the Kurchatov Scientific Center. By this time I clearly realized that ITEP was no longer a place where science, to put it mildly, could be expected to flourish. And when I got an offer from V.G. Novikov to join his group at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (KIAM) — with which I had close professional ties from as early as 1971 — I gladly accepted it. The transition to KIAM in July 2012 was also quite logical because after 2007 the focus of my work has shifted to numerical modeling of hot laser-generated plasmas, where energy transport by thermal radiation plays a significant role, and to the development of numerical methods for such modeling. A strong motivation for this work was maintained by its application to the field of EUV lithography. More details about my scientific career can be found in my CV. Here is the link to the full list of my publications.
Despite having always been friendly with computers and an active user of Internet, I began thinking about setting my own home page only at the end of 2007 — the tragic year when my younger son Fyodor died, from whom I inherited this web domain. At about the same time I realized that I had accumulated a certain amount of unpublished scientific material that may never get published as journal articles or monographs. From time to time my colleagues, who know me personally, ask me about this or that result, or a formula, or a code, and I am always glad to share with them what I have. Evidently, the best way to disseminate all such stuff is to place it on the Internet, with an open and easy access for anybody who is interested. An additional motivation for this web page came also from the necessity to provide the students, who take my semester course on the physics of inertial confinement fusion, with various materials related to the teaching process.
The scientific material posted here is organized as a collection of separate projects. As time goes on, I hope to be able to add continuously to the number and to the content of these projects. Upon the latest update, these projects include