CHAOS AND INNOVATION
                  RESEARCH UNIT

Ilya Prigogine was born in Moscow, Russia on January 25, 1917 and he passed away on May 28, 2003 in Brussels, Belgium. Ilya Prigogine acquired the Belgian nationality and was married with Marina Prokopowicz and has two sons, Yves and Pascal Prigogine. CV

               

 

           



FAREWELL TO ILYA PRIGOGINE

Memorial address by

Ioannis Antoniou
Deputy Director, International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry
Professor of Mathematical Analysis and Statistical Mechanics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Royal Academy of Belgium, Brussels
6 June 2003

Professor Prigogine,

This moment was certain, but not predictable when I joined your group, 21 years ago. Just like atomic transitions that excited you so much. Every week you gathered us in your office to discuss different problems. Those who actively engaged themselves in the issue were the authors of the papers. Self Organized Delegation. You always tried to get the best from people, deliberately ignoring the irrelevant and the destructive, never losing the vision and the goal.

After my PhD, I was advised by other senior scientists to stay away from your group because it could be too risky for the career a young researcher to deal with exotic unclear subjects, far from the mainstream. I was desperate, so I decided to get your reaction. Quite unexpectedly you told me: " They are right. Mainstream research is safe, but you should not expect to get results of great significance. Outside the mainstream you may get something really interesting. Moreover, you have a little time for creative thinking. But there is a high risk to be lost and isolated. Research is like horse betting, interesting return is with the outsiders, but there is high risk to lose everything. "

Indeed, your work in the early stages was outside the mainstream. When you tried to find the dynamical basis of Self Organization and Irreversibility, Wigner advised you " not to lose your time in such strange research, because nature is anyway reversible at the microscopic fundamental level ". I asked you: " How did you find the strength to persist and go on? " You said: " If they are right then Nature must be schizophrenic. The unity of nature, should imply a unified description of nature as well. I always believed that the objective character of Self Organization and Irreversibility should be based on some qualitative properties of Dynamics. " Indeed, you found that Non-Integrability and Chaos are the key properties of Dynamics which give rise to Irreversibility without any approximations, subjective evaluations or loss of information.

Those of us in Brussels and Austin who helped you a little are most happy and proud. Your vision is now reality. We have new results in Physics, new Mathematics, even applications appreciated by the present scientific community. But on the top of that we have, thanks to you, an optimistic vision for our universe. As you like to say, " Universe is a construction in progress, in which we participate ".

When I presented our work 10 years ago in a Conference in Italy, another Nobel prizewinner attacked me violently. After a hot discussion, during the dinner he approached me saying, " I like your work on the Time Operator, but why do you lose your time with the strange ideas of Prigogine? " Quite upset, I decided again to report it to you. Your response was another surprise: " I am most happy, Ioannis, because this shows that my work attracts attention. When you propose something original you should expect to have good friends and good enemies, as well. No reaction means that your work is perceived as insignificant. "

You always emphasized that science is a social activity. Thanks also to your efforts in the '80’s, the European Research Area is now reality.

Under your direction, thanks to your inspiration, the International Solvay Institutes have been transformed into an Advanced Research Center for Non Equilibrium Physics and Complexity.

In the early '90’s you initiated the Euro-Russia Collaboration on complexity. Mother Russia helped us a lot. Many talented Russian scientists came to Brussels. Strong personal links were established. A lot of new results were obtained. Professor Kadyshevsky, the Director of the International Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, Professor Sadovnichy, the Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University and Professor Verbitskaya, the Rector of St. Petersburg State University on behalf of your beloved friends and collaborators, about 500, commit themselves to continue the fruitful collaboration in our international network, to develop your ideas further.

You have quoted many times the dialogue between Parmenides and Heraclitus, Being and Becoming. The honours offered to you by Hellenic Universities and Authorities are simply expressions of the appreciation and love of Greek scientists and intellectuals. Your friends, Rector Antonopoulos from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Rector Xanthopoulos from the National Technical University of Athens and Vice-Rector Tsalidis from Democritus University of Thrace will support the further development of your ideas in Greece.

We all believe that your thoughts will mark the science of the 21st century. Your groups in Brussels and Austin, will continue to work inspired by your refreshing vision and innovative ideas.

Although you never had any particular opinion about religious matters, you always appreciated what you like to call " the mystery of experience of transcendence ". You considered this mysterious experience to be the source of creative innovative activity in science and art. When I asked you a few months ago: " What are the future challenges of science as now the issue of Irreversibility and Self-Organization is more or less clear? ", I was astonished to hear you say: " Ioannis, if I was a young researcher now, I would study the Mind/ Body problem. This is the great challenge of the 21st century. "

Bon voyage Professor Prigogine, in this great bifurcation.