On December 12, 2025, in Lviv at the I.R. Yukhnovsky Institute of Condensed Matter Physics (ICMP) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine within the framework of the XX Working Meeting of the Scientific Council on the problem "Physics of Soft Matter," a presentation took place of the monograph by Ihor Yukhnovsky and Myroslav Holovko "Statistical Theory of Classical Equilibrium Systems."
The presentation was opened by the Chairman of the Scientific Council, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Ihor Mryglod, who introduced the content of the book and emphasized the relevance of this publication today.
The Director of the ICMP named after I.R. Yukhnovsky of the NAS of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Taras Bryk, in his speech summarized numerous events held throughout 2025 dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Academician Ihor Yukhnovsky. Among them was the publication of the mentioned monograph.
The co-author of the monograph, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Myroslav Holovko, shared memories of writing the first edition of the book over 40 years ago and specifically focused on the additional chapter in the second edition, which updated the material according to the current level of research in this dynamic field of science.
An interesting and emotional speech was given by Professor Orest Pizio from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a student of both Ihor Yukhnovsky and Myroslav Holovko, and now a well-known expert in the field of liquid theory worldwide. He was one of the initiators of the reissue of this book in English and one of the responsible editors of the publication.
The Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the ICMP named after I.R. Yukhnovsky of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the Soft Matter Theory Department, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Taras Patsahan, spoke about the preparation of the second edition of the monograph and expressed gratitude to the wide range of Institute staff who contributed in various ways to this work (translation into English, formula typesetting, drawing figures and diagrams, style development, etc.). Virtually the entire Institute team was involved in this major project.
At the conclusion of the book presentation, the Director of the Publishing House "Akademperiodyka," Anna Radchenko, spoke about the process of publishing this book and thanked the Institute's team for their cooperation. The event participants were also addressed by the scientific reviewer of the book, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Yurii Slyusarenko from the SSC "Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology" of the NAS of Ukraine and Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Victor Pergamenshchik from the Institute of Physics of the NAS of Ukraine.
In the second part of the presentation, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Yurii Holovach presented a collection of scientific articles in the journal "Condensed Matter Physics" dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Academician Ihor Yukhnovsky, which were published throughout 2025. Among the authors were scientists from Ukraine, Germany, France, Poland, Canada, and Mexico. Ihor Yukhnovsky was the founder and chief editor of the journal "Condensed Matter Physics" for 29 years.
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More about the publication
The monograph I.R. Yukhnovskii, M.F. Holovko. Statistical Theory of Classical Equilibrium Systems was published by the Publishing House "Akademperiodyka" of the NAS of Ukraine as part of the project "Ukrainian Scientific Book in a Foreign Language."
The first edition of this book was printed 45 years ago by the "Naukova Dumka" publishing house in Russian. This monograph was one of the first in the world literature to consistently develop the foundations of the microscopic theory of the liquid state and throughout this time has effectively served as a textbook for senior students and graduate students. It considered a wide class of systems from a unified perspective, covering real gases, liquids, and solutions. In particular, it was the first to show how to describe systems of interacting particles in an extended phase space consisting of both individual particle coordinates and the space of collective variables describing fluctuation density waves for the corresponding characteristic. Individual and collective variables describe, respectively, effects caused by short-range and long-range interactions. The monograph consistently presents the developed ion-molecular approach in the theory of electrolyte solutions, which equally accounts for all interactions between electrolyte ions and solvent molecules. It is shown that the nature of screening of electrostatic interactions by ions and solvent molecules is fundamentally different. Spatially inhomogeneous systems are also considered.
Since the first edition was made in Russian, despite significant interest from world researchers and active citations, this book, despite its relevance, has so far remained practically inaccessible to a wide circle of specialists.
By the resolution of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine No. 409 dated 23.10.2024 "On holding the jubilee session of the General Assembly of the NAS of Ukraine dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Academician I.R. Yukhnovsky," the plan of events to commemorate this occasion included a second edition (corrected and supplemented) of this monograph in English.
The publishers hope that the book will take a worthy place in the series of the most famous monographs on the physics of the liquid state and find its readers both in Ukraine and worldwide.
According to information from the I.R. Yukhnovsky Institute of Condensed Matter Physics of the NAS of Ukraine
