He was called the best theoretical physicist of his time, and his colleagues considered his main quality to be the ability to clearly imagine the simplicity of the processes and phenomena occurring in nature. He was especially proud when he succeeded, in his own words, "to trivialize the task."
The future theorist was born on January 22, 1908 (January 9, old style) in Baku. His father was a petroleum engineer and his mother was a physician in the field of physiology. The family lived in abundance, and Leo had a happy childhood. He shows an extremely early ability for the exact sciences, at the age of 12 he already knows how to integrate and differentiate, and at the age of thirteen he graduates brilliantly high school... According to the parents, the boy is still too young to enter the university, and therefore they send him to a commercial school, where he studies economic sciences for one year.
In 1922, Landau entered the university at once in two faculties - chemistry and physics and mathematics. After 2 years, the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Azerbaijan state university was reorganized into a pedagogical, and Lev Davidovich was forced to transfer to Leningrad University. In 1927, Lev Landau graduated from the physics department of Leningrad State University. A year before graduation, he received the post of supernumerary graduate student. He is only 12 years old, but he has already published 4 scientific works, including the article "On the theory of spectra of diatomic molecules". In another article devoted to the problem of deceleration in wave mechanics, the young theoretician was the first to introduce a description of the state of systems using a density matrix.
At that time, theoretical physics was developing in Russia without a major and generally recognized leader, as if by itself, in the process of mutual communication between scientists at seminars. In such situation great importance had trips of young scientists abroad. The first time Lev Landau goes on a business trip abroad in 1929. He visits Germany, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands and Denmark. Communication with Niels Bohr gives the young researcher a lot. Subsequently, Landau considered him to be his only teacher in theoretical physics. The sincere friendship between student and teacher has been preserved for life. Abroad, Lev Landau explores magnetic properties electrons, and also deals with the problems of relativistic quantum mechanics together with Ronald F. Pyers. These works make him a world famous theoretical physicist.
In 1931, Lev Landau returned to Leningrad and worked for some time at the famous Leningrad Physics and Technology Institute. In 1932 the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology "spun off" from the Physicotechnical Institute, and Landau moved. In 1934, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR awarded Lev Landau the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a thesis. The presentation notes an important feature of Lev Davidovich as a scientist - the virtuoso application of the mathematical apparatus for solving complex problems. In those years Kharkov turned into a center of theoretical physics. The scientist creates an excellent scientific school, which is extremely difficult to get into. Landau developed the requirements for "applicants", which he called the "theoretical minimum." Although there were a huge number of applicants, only 43 people were able to overcome this bar in the 30 years of the seminar's existence. Landau treated these talented young scientists with great attention, giving them freedom in choosing the subject of research and sparing no time for joint experiments. Pupils and colleagues respectfully called Lev Davidovich Doctor Dau. Among the seminarians was Yevgeny Mikhailovich Livshits, who became Landau's closest associate, co-author of many of his works, and a personal friend. In 1935, Landau and Livshits create a series of textbooks that have undergone many reprints and additions and are deservedly recognized as classics. For this work, the theoreticians were awarded the Lenin Prize (1962).
In 1935, academician P. L. Kapitza was not allowed to return to Cambridge, where he had a laboratory, and was forced to stay in the USSR. The Institute for Physical Problems is being created in Moscow especially for him. In 1937, at the invitation of Pyotr Leonidovich, Landau moved to Moscow, and in 1938 - and Livshits. In the "Kapitsin" institute, Lev Davidovich created a department of theoretical physics, which he supervises until the end of his days.
 L. D. Landau, 1938 |
In 1938-1939, his work was interrupted: the scientist was arrested on charges of espionage for Nazi Germany and imprisoned. On the day of his arrest, April 28, 1938, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa wrote a letter to Stalin asking for his release. He pointed out that Landau and Fock were two of the most powerful Soviet theoreticians and that their loss would be very tangible both for the Institute and for Soviet and world science.
"Of course, scholarship and talent, no matter how great they are, do not give a person the right to violate the laws of his country, and if Landau is to blame, he must answer," Kapitsa continued. "But I beg you, in view of his exceptional talent, to give appropriate instructions so that his case is treated very carefully. "
Kapitsa's letter was both bold and clever. He explained how Landau could make enemies for himself: ... "We should take into account the character of Landau, which, to put it simply, is bad," wrote Kapitsa. "He is a bully and bully, he likes to look for mistakes from others and when he finds them, especially important elders, like our academicians, then begins to tease irreverently. "
Kapitsa continued to make efforts to protect Landau, who was released exactly one year after his arrest. Kapitsa had to write a short letter addressed to L.P. Beria, the new head of the NKVD, in which he vouched for Landau's loyal behavior.
Perhaps the letter in defense of Landau, sent to the Soviet government by Niels Bohr, also played a role.
As a child, fascinated by science, Landau made a covenant to never "smoke, drink, and never marry." Also, he believed that marriage is a cooperative that has nothing to do with love. However, he met a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry Concordia (Cora) Drobantseva, who divorced her first husband. She vowed that she would not be jealous of other women, and since 1934 they lived together in a civil marriage. Landau believed that lies and treason destroy marriage most of all, and therefore they entered into a "non-aggression pact in married life" (as conceived by Dau), which gave relative freedom to both spouses in novels on the side. An official marriage was concluded between them in 1946 after the birth of their son Igor. Igor Lvovich Landau graduated from the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University, an experimental physicist in the field of low temperature physics.
The only one not physical theory Landau had a theory of happiness. He believed that everyone should and even must be happy. To do this, he derived a simple formula that contained three parameters: Work; Love; Communication with people.
Love... Belinsky's words "Love is poetry and the sun of life!" - Dau was delighted. His ideal of a man went back to the brave knight, the conqueror of ladies' hearts, who devotes a third of his life to love affairs. Dau himself understood that this was a book image, but he still took love seriously.
Communication with people... Landau succeeded in this. He could not live without constant communication with colleagues, students and friends. He had a great many acquaintances, in addition, communication included a seminar, and conversations with students, and letters.
On January 7, 1962, disaster struck. Lev Davidovich was driving a car rushing along an icy road when the car skidded and he collided with a truck. Of all those in the car, only Landau was seriously injured. With a fracture of the base of the skull, ribs and pelvic bones, he was sent to the hospital. For six weeks the great physicist did not regain consciousness; several times doctors recognized his condition as hopeless. So, from Canada to Moscow flew the largest neurosurgeon, a member of the Royal Society of London Penfield. Although Landau regained consciousness, his mental faculties were restored very slowly, and he was never able to return to creative work... In the same fateful 1962, Lev Landau was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the fundamental theories of condensed matter, especially liquid helium." The scientist, for obvious reasons, did not go to Stockholm for the ceremony. The prize was presented to him in Moscow by the Swedish Ambassador to the USSR.
Nobel and "Lenin" laureate, Hero of Socialist Labor, Landau died on April 1, 1968 as a result of complications that arose after injuries received six years ago. With the departure of the great scientist, an entire era in theoretical physics ended: the Dau era.
In the history of science, he will remain one of the legendary figures of the 20th century, a century that has deserved the tragic honor of being called atomic. According to Landau's direct testimony, he did not feel the slightest bit of enthusiasm, participating in the undeniably heroic epic of the creation of Soviet nuclear power. He was motivated only by civic duty and incorruptible scientific honesty. In the early 50s, he said.
Lev Davidovich Landau was born in the heart of Azerbaijan - in the city of Baku - on January 22, 1908, into a Jewish family. The parents of the future scientist are educated people and quite famous in their field. Father - David Lvovich Landau - a petroleum engineer who graduated from the Mogilev gymnasium and worked at The Caspian-Black Sea Joint-Stock Company. He penned many scientific works, including "A method for extinguishing a burning oil fountain" (Bulletin of the Society of Technologists, St. Petersburg, 1913) and "The basic law of raising a liquid by a passing current of air (gas)." Physicist's mother - Lyubov Veniaminovna Garkavi-Landau - also a graduate of the Mogilev gymnasium (female), graduated from the Women's Medical Institute in St. Petersburg. worked as a woman obstetrician in Balakhani, and also worked in the field of experimental pharmacology. Harkavi-Landau is the author of several scientific papers on this topic.
The family had two children - Leo and Sophia. Sister, with whom the scientist always had a good relationship, later also devoted herself to science - Sophia is a chemical engineer.
Start date
In 1916, at the age of 8, Lev Landau entered the Baku Jewish Gymnasium, where at that time his mother taught natural science. The boy had incredible abilities, and it was simply impossible not to notice his craving for mathematical sciences. At 12, the young genius already knew how to differentiate, at 13 to integrate, and at 14 he easily passed the entrance exams to Baku University, and at once in two directions: physics and mathematics and chemistry faculties.
After studying for two years at the university, simultaneously studying two specializations at once, Landau decided educational institution was transferred to more prestigious university- Leningrad University, where he finally chooses physics for himself, leaving chemistry exclusively "for the soul."
First steps and first serious success
From that moment on, the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology became an integral part of Landau's life. After graduating in 1927, at the age of 19, he was accepted as a graduate student without hesitation, and later became a full-fledged employee of the university. At the same time, Landau, without even realizing it, makes an enormous contribution to quantum theory - in 1927 he introduced the concept of a density matrix as a method for a complete quantum-mechanical description of systems that are part of a larger system. This concept is the basis of the foundations to this day.
In 1929, Landau, at the direction of the People's Committee of Education, went on a business trip abroad - to develop and exchange experience with foreign colleagues. Being on a business trip for about two years, Lev Davydovich visits a number of countries (Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, etc.), meeting and working with such prominent persons as Heisenberg, Kapitsa (who since 1921 worked at the Cavendish Laboratory), Bohr and even Einstein.
The business trip, subsidized by the People's Commissariat for Education for only the first six months, continued with the help of Niels Bohr, who won a scholarship for Landau from the Rockefeller Foundation. Working with Niels Bohr (Copenhagen, Denmark), Landau met many young and talented physicists like himself: Pauli, Peierls, Bloch, Wigner, Dirac and others. Some of the most outstanding works of that time - work on the diamagnetism of an electron gas (Landau's diamagnetism) and work on relativistic quantum mechanics (together with Peierls).
In the spring of 1931, Landau returned to his homeland, and immediately changes awaited him - due to disagreements with Abram Ioffe, director of the Leningrad Physics and Technology, he had to leave the penates of his native university.
Moving and scientific activities in Kharkov
Landau moved to the capital of Ukraine, which at that time was Kharkov. Here he found himself at the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology, where he was approved as the head of the theoretical department. In parallel with this, Landau is the head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Physical and Mechanical Faculty of the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Institute.
In 1934, Lev Landau is awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and the coverage of the fields of the young physicist's teachings is increasing every year. It is in Kharkov that works are published on such topics as: dispersion of sound, the origin of energy of stars, scattering of light, energy transfer that occurs during collisions, superconductivity, magnetic properties of various materials, etc.
On September 1, 1935, Landau was enrolled as a teacher at the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Kharkov Institute; October 1935 - heads the department experimental physics at Kharkov State University.
Landau School
The range of Landau's research is incredibly large - it covers most of the main areas of theoretical physics. This activity has attracted many young scientists and promising students. Thanks to Landau, during his activity in Kharkov, the city was even unofficially nicknamed "the center of theoretical physics in the USSR." Landau's convictions that a theoretical physicist should be thoroughly familiar with all areas of this science prompted him to create a rather tough training program. Landau's "theoretical minimum" meant that those wishing to participate in his seminars must meet the highest requirements. As a confirmation of this fact, the figure 40 can be called - that is how many people have passed the "theoretical minimum" exams over the 30 years of the school's existence. Few who obeyed this teaching could safely count on the support of the greatest scientist and had complete freedom to choose research topics.
Defeat of UPTI, arrest and further activities
In 1937, Landau was enrolled as a teacher at the Institute for Physical Problems at the invitation of Kapitsa. The latter was not allowed to go to Cambridge, where he had a laboratory at that time, forcing him to stay in the USSR. The above-mentioned Institute is being created especially for Kapitsa. Landau returns to Russia.
Soon after his departure, the so-called "UPTI Case" begins - the repressions directed against the physicists of the Ukrainian Physics and Technology Institute in 1935-1937. Of the 11 people injured during the repressions, five were shot, including the Nobel-level experimental physicist Lev Shubnikov. Kapitsa's invitation simply saves Landau's life.
However, this does not help to avoid arrest - on the morning of April 28, 1938, Landau was arrested for anti-Soviet agitation. After spending a year behind bars, Landau was released thanks to the remarkable efforts of Kapitsa, who wrote letters to Stalin and Niels Bohr, who took an active part in attempts to free Landau.
In April 1939, Lev Landau was released early, but fear of the regime accompanies the scientist throughout his life, barely diminishing after Stalin's death.
World War II and post-war time
This period for the scientist passed under the banner of the study of explosions and combustion, Special attention he paid shock waves... For almost twenty years (1945-1962) Landau worked on many projects, including research on the helium isotope. Lev Davidovich predicted the existence of a new type of wave propagation for this isotope. "Zero sound" - this is how Lev Davidovich Landau called it. Landau's biography also contains a creation point atomic bomb THE USSR.
Car accident, Nobel Prize and the last years of life
The accident, which the scientist got into at the age of 53, was a turning point in his life. The best specialists fought for the life of a physicist who was unconscious for a month and a half Soviet Union and Europe. Lev Landau, who lost his memory, did not recognize anyone for three months.
In 1962, Landau won the Nobel Prize, but for health reasons could not personally receive it in Stockholm. WITH scientific activities finished forever. On April 1, 1968, six years after the ill-fated accident, the world lost the greatest physicist of all time.
Personal life
Lev Landau's wife, Drobantsev Concordia, was a native of Kharkov and worked in the food industry. In the marriage, the couple had a son, who later became a physicist, like his father.
- Landau's list of theories includes not only physical teachings. The scientist deduced his own "theory of happiness", which includes only three components: work, love, communication with people
- Favorite book of the scientist - "Red and Black" by Stendhal
- Friends and colleagues called him Dau - short for Landau
- Despite the stereotype that physicists do not recognize chemistry as a science and vice versa, Landau was interested in the latter throughout his life - as a result of his hobby.
Books by Lev Landau
Throughout his life, Landau has published many textbooks and manuals. All of them were associated with the teaching of his entire life - physics. A special contribution to the development of science is the series of books "The Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz", as well as the series of publications "Physics for All".
theoretical physicist, participant of the atomic project since 1946. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1946). Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1962). Hero of Socialist Labor (1954). Laureate of the Lenin (1962) and three State (1946, 1949, 1953) prizes of the USSR.
Lev Davidovich Landau was born on January 22, 1908 in Baku, in the family of an oil engineer D.L. Landau. His mother - L.V. Garkavi-Landau was a graduate of the Mogilev Women's Gymnasium, the Yeleninsky Midwifery Institute and the Women's Medical Institute in St. Petersburg. After marriage in 1905, she worked as an obstetrician in Balakhani, a school doctor at a Baku women's gymnasium, published scientific works on experimental pharmacology and "A Brief Guide to Experimental Pharmacology." D.L. Landau also came from Mogilev; graduated from the Mogilev gymnasium with a gold medal and worked as an engineer in an English oil company in Balakhani and later in Baku. In the 1920s, he was a process engineer at Azneft; published scientific works.
Since 1916, L.D. Landau studied at the Baku Jewish Gymnasium, where his mother was a natural science teacher. Very gifted mathematically, Landau learned to differentiate at the age of 12, and to integrate at the age of 13. At the age of 14 he entered Baku University, simultaneously at two faculties: physics and mathematics and chemistry. Soon he left chemistry, choosing physics as his specialty. In 1924, for special successes, he was transferred to Leningrad University, settled with his paternal aunt.
After graduating from the Physics Department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Leningrad University in 1927, L.D. Landau became a graduate student, and later an employee of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology (of which he was director), in 1926-1927. published the first works on theoretical physics. Almost immediately in 1927, 19-year-old Landau made a fundamental contribution to quantum theory by introducing the concept of a density matrix as a method for a complete quantum mechanical description of systems that are part of a larger system. This concept has become basic in quantum statistics.
From 1929 to 1931 was on a scientific trip in the direction of the People's Commissariat for Education to continue education in Germany, Denmark, England and Switzerland. At the University of Berlin, he met with A. Einstein, in Götingen attended the seminars of M. Born, then in Leipzig he met with W. Heisenberg. In Copenhagen he worked with Niels Bohr, whom he has since considered his only teacher. In Cambridge he met with, who from 1921 worked at the Cavendish Laboratory.
The trip was subsidized by the People's Commissariat for Education for only six months; further stay was continued on a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation, received on Bohr's recommendation.
While working in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr, Landau constantly communicated with outstanding and young physicists like himself - Heisenberg, Pauli, Peierls, Bloch, Wigner, Dirac. At this time, he completed the classical work on the diamagnetism of an electron gas (Landau's diamagnetism) and (in Zurich, together with R. Peierls) - on relativistic quantum mechanics.
Everyone who knew Lev Landau in his youth remembers him as a harsh, self-confident young man, devoid of a priori respect for his elders, perhaps overly critical in his assessments. The same traits of his character are also emphasized by those who met with Landau in later years. Trying to understand his character, undoubtedly, one should take into account the following testimony of his closest friend, student and co-author, EM Lifshits: “In his youth he was very shy, and therefore it was difficult for him to communicate with other people. Then it was one of the biggest problems for him. It got to the point that at times he was in a state of extreme despair and was close to suicide ...
Lev Davidovich was characterized by extreme self-discipline, a sense of responsibility towards himself. In the end, this helped him turn into a person who was completely in control of himself in any circumstances, and just into a cheerful person. He thought a lot about how to be active. "
In the spring of 1931, L.D. Landau returned to the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute, but did not stay there because of disagreements with.
In 1932-1937. Landau headed the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UPTI) in Kharkov - then the capital of the Ukrainian SSR - and at the same time headed the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Physical and Mechanical Faculty of the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Institute (renamed the National Technical University "Kharkov Polytechnic Institute").
In 1934, L.D. Landau was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a thesis.
September 1, 1935 L.D. Landau was enrolled as a teacher at the Department of Theoretical Physics at Kharkov University, and in October of the same year he headed the Department of Experimental Physics at Kharkov University (KSU).
After the dismissal in February 1937 from Kharkov University and the subsequent strike of physicists L.D. Landau accepted the invitation of Pyotr Kapitsa to take the position of head of the theoretical department of the newly created Institute for Physical Problems (IPP) and moved to Moscow. After Landau's departure, the UFTI began to be destroyed by the organs of the regional NKVD, foreign specialists A. Weisberg, F. Houtermans were arrested, in August-September 1937 physicists L.V. were arrested and shot in November. Rosenkevich (co-author Landau), L.V. Shubnikov, V.S. Gorsky (the so-called "UPTI case").
In April 1938, L.D. Landau in Moscow edits the text written by M.A. A Korean leaflet calling for the overthrow of the Stalinist regime, in which Stalin is called a fascist dictator. The text of the leaflet was handed over to the anti-Stalinist group of IFLI students for distribution by mail before the May Day holidays. This intention was revealed by the state security agencies of the USSR. Landau, Korets, and Yu.B. Rumer was arrested on the morning of April 28 for anti-Soviet agitation. On May 3, 1938, Landau was excluded from the list of IFP employees.
Landau spent a year in prison and was released thanks to a letter in his defense from Niels Bohr and the intervention of P. Kapitsa, who took Landau "on bail." On April 26, 1939, P. Kapitsa wrote to L. Beria: “I ask that the arrested physics professor Lev Davidovich Landau be released from custody under my personal guarantee. I vouch to the NKVD that Landau will not carry out any counter-revolutionary activities in my institute, and I will take all measures in my power to ensure that he does not carry out any counter-revolutionary work outside the institute. If I notice any statements on the part of Landau aimed at the detriment of Soviet power, I will immediately inform the NKVD organs about this. Two days later, on April 28, 1939, a Resolution of the NKVD of the USSR was signed on the termination of the case against Landau and his transfer to bail.
L. D. Landau was reinstated in the list of IFP employees. After his release and before the death of L.D. Landau remained a member of the Institute for Physical Problems. Landau was rehabilitated only 22 years after his death. On July 23, 1990, the criminal case against him was dropped for lack of corpus delicti.
In the summer of 1941, the institute was evacuated to Kazan. There, like the rest of the employees, L.D. Landau gave his strength, first of all, to defense missions. He built theories and made calculations of the processes that determine the combat effectiveness of weapons. In 1945, when the war ended, three articles by Landau on the detonation of explosives appeared in the "Reports of the Academy of Sciences".
In 1943-1947. Landau is a professor at the Department of Low Temperature Physics at the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University.
In 1946, L.D. Landau was elected a full member (academician) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, passing the title of corresponding member.
In 1946-1953. L. D. Landau was involved in the Soviet Atomic Project. He participated in the calculations of the RDS-1 charge, as well as in the construction of the theory of the RDS-6s thermonuclear charge. For his work in the Atomic Project, he was awarded three Stalin Prizes (1946, 1949, 1953), was awarded the Order of Lenin (1949), and he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1954). The last award marked the end of L.D. Landau in "secret" research.
After the death of I.V. Stalin L. D. Landau clearly formulated his desire to stop working on classified topics and achieved this. According to Landau's direct testimony, he did not feel the slightest bit of enthusiasm, participating in the undeniably heroic epic of the creation of Soviet nuclear weapons. He was motivated only by civic duty and incorruptible scientific honesty. In the early 1950s, he said: “... we must use all our strength so as not to enter the thick of atomic affairs ... oppression ".
In 1955-1968. L. D. Landau is a professor at the Department of Quantum Theory and Electrodynamics, Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University. He gave lecture courses: "Mechanics", "Field Theory", "Statistical Physics".
In 1955 he signed the "Letter of Three Hundreds" containing an assessment of the state of biology in the USSR by the mid-1950s and a criticism of Lysenko and Lysenkoism.
Academician L.D. Landau is considered a legendary figure in the history of Russian and world science. Quantum mechanics, solid state physics, magnetism, low temperature physics, superconductivity and superfluidity, cosmic ray physics, astrophysics, hydrodynamics, quantum electrodynamics, quantum field theory, atomic nuclear physics and elementary particle physics, the theory of chemical reactions, plasma physics - far from complete a list of areas to which L.D. Landau. It was said about him that "there were no locked doors for him in the huge building of physics of the 20th century."
The ability of L.D. Landau to cover all branches of physics and penetrate deeply into them was clearly manifested in the work he created in collaboration with E.M. Lifshitz, a unique course in theoretical physics, the last volumes of which were completed according to Landau's plan already by his students.
EAT. Lifshitz wrote about Landau: “He told me how he was shocked by the incredible beauty of the general theory of relativity (sometimes he even said that such admiration at the first acquaintance with this theory should be, in his opinion, generally a sign of any inborn theoretical physicist). He also talked about the state of ecstasy that had led him to study the papers of Heisenberg and Schrödinger, which marked the birth of a new quantum mechanics. He said that they gave him not only the enjoyment of true scientific beauty, but also an acute sense of the power of human genius, the greatest triumph of which is that a person is able to understand things that he can no longer imagine. And, of course, this is precisely the curvature of space-time and the principle of uncertainty. "
In 1962, Lev Landau was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics by Werner Heisenberg, who nominated Landau for the Nobel Prize in 1959 and 1960, for his work on the superfluidity of helium, the quantum theory of diamagnetism, and works on quantum field theory. In 1962 L.D. Landau was awarded the Nobel Prize "for pioneering research in the theory of condensed matter, especially liquid helium."
For his research, L.D. Landau was also awarded three Orders of Lenin (1949, 1954 and 1962), the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1945), the Order of the Badge of Honor (1943), and medals.
On January 7, 1962, on the way from Moscow to Dubna on Dmitrovskoe highway, Landau got into a car accident. As a result of numerous fractures, hemorrhages and head trauma, he was in a coma for 59 days. Physicists around the world took part in saving Landau's life. A round-the-clock watch was organized in the hospital. Missing medicines were delivered by air from Europe and the United States. As a result of these measures, Landau's life was saved, despite very serious injuries.
Lev Davidovich Landau short biography famous physicist and Interesting Facts from his life they will tell for what he got Nobel prize.
Lev Davidovich Landau short biography
Was born on January 9 (22), 1908 in Baku. His father was a renowned petroleum engineer and his mother was a physician.
In 1922 Landau entered Baku University; two years later he transferred to the physics department of Leningrad University. In 1927, Landau entered graduate school at the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology, where he worked on the magnetic theory of the electron and quantum electrodynamics. From 1929 to 1931 Landau was on a scientific trip to Germany, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands and Denmark.
In 1931 he moved to Kharkov and became the head of the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology. At the same time, he is the head of the departments of theoretical physics at the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Institute and at the Kharkov University. The Academy of Sciences of the USSR awarded him in 1934 the scientific degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a thesis, and the following year he received the title of professor. Landau made a great contribution to quantum theory and to the study of the nature and interaction of elementary particles.
In 1937, at the invitation of Pyotr Kapitsa, Landau headed the Department of Theoretical Physics at the newly created Institute for Physical Problems in Moscow.
In 1937, Landau married Concordia Drobantseva. They had a son.
In 1962 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the pioneering theory of condensed matter, primarily liquid helium
On January 7, 1962, Landau got into a car accident and was in a coma for 59 days. He was rescued, but after the accident, Landau practically ceased to engage in scientific activities.
Landau died on April 1, 1968, a few days after an operation to remove an intestinal obstruction.
Lev Davidovich Landau interesting facts
Very gifted mathematically, Landau learned to differentiate at 12 and integrate at 13.
Received the Nobel Prize at the age of 54
At the University of Berlin, he met with A. Einstein, in Götingen attended the seminars of M. Born, then in Leipzig he met with V. Heisenberg. In Copenhagen worked with Niels Bohr, whom he has since considered his only teacher.
Landau's only non-physical theory was theory of happiness. He believed that everyone should and even must be happy. To do this, he derived a simple formula that contained three parameters: work, love and communication with people.
Landau did not tolerate pomp, and his sharp, often witty criticism sometimes created the impression of him as a cold and even unpleasant person. But P. Kapitsa, who knew Landau well, spoke of him as "a very kind and sympathetic person, always ready to help unjustly offended people."
Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-68) - an outstanding Russian theoretical physicist, founder scientific school, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1946), Hero of Socialist Labor (1954). Landau's works in many areas of physics: magnetism; superfluidity and superconductivity; physics solid, atomic nucleus and elementary particles, plasma physics; quantum electrodynamics; astrophysics and others. Author of the classical course in theoretical physics (together with theoretical physicist Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits). Lenin Prize (1962), USSR State Prize (1946, 1949, 1953), Nobel Prize (1962).
Childhood of the future physicist
Lev Landau was born in Baku January 9 (January 22) 1908 in an intelligent family (father is an oil engineer, mother is a doctor). The family had two children. With his sister Sophia Landau was friends all his life. His mathematical abilities showed up already in school, from which he graduated at the age of 13. According to the theoretical physicist Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits, Landau "said that he hardly remembers himself as not being able to differentiate and integrate."
Parents believed that at the age of 13 it was too early to go to university: one year Landau studied at the Baku Economic College (on the day of the joyfully celebrated 50th anniversary, this fact was the subject of a joke: "With Landau's departure from the technical school, the Soviet Union lost a talented store manager"). In 1922, Lev Landau entered Baku University, where he studied for two years simultaneously at two faculties: physics and mathematics and chemistry. After moving to the physics department of Leningrad University in 1924, Landau did not continue his chemical education. However, he retained an interest in chemistry throughout his life and was often struck by his good knowledge of chemistry (for theoretical physicists, as a rule, a somewhat arrogant disregard for chemistry is characteristic).
LPTI
Since 1926, Lev Landau was associated with the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology (now named after Abram Fedorovich Ioffe), where in 1927 after graduating from the university (at the age of 19!) He was accepted as a graduate student. “Later, he told me many times about how much he studied as a student. He worked so intensely that at night he began to dream of formulas. I have heard many times from Landau how he was thrilled when he first read the works of the Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger and the German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg, who proclaimed a new century - the age of quantum mechanics.
Everyone who knew Lev Landau in his youth remembers him as a harsh, self-confident young man, deprived of a priori respect for his elders, perhaps overly critical in his assessments. The same traits of his character are also emphasized by those who met with Landau in later years. Trying to understand his character, undoubtedly, one should take into account the following testimony of his closest friend, student and co-author, EM Lifshits: “In his youth he was very shy, and therefore it was difficult for him to communicate with other people. Then it was one of the biggest problems for him. It got to the point that at times he was in a state of extreme despair and was close to suicide ...
Lev Davidovich was characterized by extreme self-discipline, a sense of responsibility towards himself. In the end, this helped him turn into a person who was completely in control of himself in any circumstances, and just into cheerful person... He thought a lot about how to be active. " Let us add a few words, said about the same physicist and engineer Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa: “with age, shyness disappeared, but Landau never developed the ability to adapt to society. Only the exceptional all-round giftedness of Landau's personality attracted people to him, and as they got closer to him, they began to love him and find great pleasure in communicating with him. "
And one more thing: “the uncompromising character of all major scientists in their scientific work, was extended by Landau and human relations, but those who knew Lev Landau intimately knew that behind this harshness a very kind and sympathetic person was hiding, always ready to help the undeservedly offended. "
In foreign scientific centers
Travels abroad (1929 - 1934) and meetings with leading physicists of that time played an important role in Landau's scientific biography. The most essential for the formation of Landau as a scientist and teacher was his visit to Copenhagen and stay at the Institute of Theoretical Physics with Niels Bohr. Discussion of burning problems of theoretical physics, in which all those present took part, the search for truth as the ultimate goal of any discussion, the atmosphere that prevailed at the seminars - all this left an indelible mark on Landau's memory, served as an example to him all his life. He always considered himself a student of Bohr.
Kharkov. Grandiose plans
In 1932, Lev Landau headed the theoretical department of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (UPTI). Continuing active research work, Landau began teaching at the same time, and in 1935 became the head of the department general physics Kharkov University. It was during these years that he formulated and began to implement his life program - to write full course theoretical physics and surround yourself with professionals: students, colleagues, associates. It is not uncommon for a twenty-four-year-old boy to have Napoleonic plans. But the fact that he fully realized them is the greatest rarity and a unique achievement.
For the first few years, a wonderful scientific atmosphere reigned at the UPTI. The cryogenic laboratory of the Institute, the only one on the territory of the Soviet Union at that time, was headed by the Russian physicist, one of the pioneers of low-temperature physics Lev Vasilievich Shubnikov, with whom Landau was connected not only by friendship, but also by deep joint scientific interests. A group of talented young people, passionate about science, gathered around Landau and Shubnikov. International physics conferences were held in Kharkov, attended by prominent Western scientists. During Landau's stay in Kharkov, this city became the center of theoretical physics in the USSR.
In 1937, Lev Davidovich married a native of Kharkov KT Drobantseva. In 1946, they had a son, Igor, a future experimental physicist.
Landau School
The school of Lev Landau began to be created - the first students appeared. Landau drew up a program of what a future young scientist should know if he wants to engage in theoretical physics (meaning, under his leadership) - the famous theoretical minimum. The program ran from 1933 to 1962. And it should be added that the passing of the theoretical minimum did not stop after Landau left scientific life as a result of a tragic car accident, exams continued to be taken by Landau's students, later employees of the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after him. There is a list of those who passed the theoretical minimum compiled by Landau in 1961. The first five surnames are as follows: Kompaneets (1933), E. Lifshits (1934), Akhiezer (1935), Isaak Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk (1935), Tissa (1935).
The first threat. Institute for Physical Problems
Since 1935, the situation at the UPTI has tragically changed. The terror that gripped the country in the second half of the 1930s did not escape the UPTI. The fabricated "cases" ended with the arrests and executions of a number of leading employees of the institute. Shubnikov was shot in the dungeons of the Kharkov prison. Landau was not arrested at that time, but the threat of arrest was quite real. She made him "run away" from Kharkov. Fortunately, Landau had an invitation from Kapitsa to take the position of head of the theoretical department of the Institute for Physical Problems (now named after Kapitsa) organized by the latter.
From 1937 until the last day of his life, Lev Landau was an employee of the IFP. Together with the IFP and other academic institutions, during the war with Nazi Germany, Landau and a group of his employees were evacuated to Kazan (1941-43). Kapitsa said: “I did not see any obstacles to the creation of a special large institute of theoretical physics for Landau at the Academy of Sciences on the scale that he only wanted, but he always not only rejected these proposals, but even refused to discuss them. He said that he was happy to be a member of the team of our experimental institute ”.
Prison and the aftermath of the endured horror
"Flight" from Kharkov did not save Landau from arrest: on the night of April 27-28, 1938, he was arrested. The next morning, April 28, Pyotr Kapitsa writes a letter to Stalin, trying to protect his employee. Throughout the year, Kapitsa did not stop trying to free Landau. In the fall of 1938, Niels Bohr also tried to draw Stalin's attention to Landau's fate: "if there was a misunderstanding, Landau - hopes Bohr - will be able to continue research work so important for the progress of mankind."
In April 1939, Lev Landau was released from prison "under the personal guarantee" of Kapitsa. Landau forever retained gratitude to Kapitsa, considering him his savior. Landau repeatedly repeated that if it had not been for Kapitsa's help, he would have probably died in prison or in a camp. Landau's "case" (more precisely, that part of it that the heirs of the NKVD decided to make public) was published in 1991. Relatives and friends of Landau knew that the arrest left a fear in Landau's soul, which somewhat diminished after Stalin's death.
Return to scientific work
The outward side of Landau's life after his arrest is quite safe, if we exclude the fact that Landau was not allowed to travel abroad: he was deprived of the opportunity to communicate freely with foreign colleagues, he did not participate in international conferences if they did not take place on the territory of the USSR. As it became known in last years For many years, Lev Landau was under secret surveillance (in particular, his conversations with employees and friends were overheard).
When Kapitsa was removed from the leadership of the IFP (1946-55), and a scientist, Academician Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov was appointed director of the institute, Landau was involved in the development of atomic weapons. After Stalin's death, Landau clearly formulated his desire to stop working on secret topics and achieved this.
Since 1943, Lev Landau returned to teaching. He taught in Physics and Technology and physics faculties Moscow University.
World recognition of Lev Davidovich Landau
Lev Landau's merits have been repeatedly noted both within the country and abroad. In 1946, Landau was elected a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was repeatedly awarded orders, was a Hero of Socialist Labor, three times he was awarded State prizes, and in 1962 Landau, together with Yevgeny Lifshitz, was awarded the Lenin Prize for the creation of the Course of Theoretical Physics. Landau was a member of many foreign academies, a laureate of honorary prizes, and had many medals. In 1962, Lev Landau received the Nobel Prize in Physics "For his pioneering studies of condensed matter, especially liquid helium."
Catastrophe
On January 7, 1962, on the highway from Moscow to Dubna, a passenger car in which Lev Davidovich was traveling collided with an oncoming truck. Nobody except Landau was hurt. In the struggle for Landau's life, physicians united with physicists. The accident rocked the entire physical community. Physicists from different countries and different generations (comrades-in-arms and friends, pupils and pupils of pupils) strove to make their contribution to saving Landau's life; about a hundred Moscow physicists voluntarily took on the duties of couriers, car drivers, intermediaries, procurers, secretaries, attendants, finally, porters and laborers. The feat of partnership was called what they managed to do: Landau's life was saved. After the accident, Landau lived for six years. He attended academic councils, sometimes at seminars. Colleagues and students who talked to him occasionally heard and passed on to others a phrase that "reminded" the former Landau.
The most important works of Lev Landau
In the year of Landau's death, a collection of his works was published. 98 articles were reproduced in two volumes. The first came out in 1926. It is called "Towards the Theory of Spectra of Diatomic Molecules". In 1927, Landau published an article "The problem of damping in wave mechanics", in which the description of the state of systems using a density matrix was introduced for the first time. The last two articles are dated 1960. One of them - in ZhETF (Volume 39. Pp. 1856) - “Small binding energies in quantum field theory”. It is devoted to the then relevant “direction, in which the Hamiltonians are not considered, but only the unitarity relations and the analytic properties of diagrams are used (quotation from the article). Another article was published in the collection "Theoretical Physics in the 20th Century" dedicated to the memory of the Swiss theoretical physicist, one of the founders of quantum mechanics and relativistic quantum field theory Wolfgang Pauli. It's called "On Fundamental Problems." In it, as in the article in ZhETF, speaking about attempts to construct a theory of elementary particles, Landau expresses his characteristic optimism: “It seems to me that the time is not far off when the equations new theory". True, Lev Landau immediately warns: even in the best case (when constructing a consistent theory) we will have a hard struggle. In this he was right.
Landau's scientific heritage
The list of Lev Davidovich's articles is striking, first of all, by its breadth. “This solid volume (on English language The collection of Landau's works was published in one volume) excites feelings, like those which causes complete collection of Shakespeare's plays or the Kechel catalog of Mozart's works. The immensity of the perfect by one person always seems incredible. " Lev Landau, apparently, is one of the last encyclopedists: his contribution to theoretical physics covers it all - from hydrodynamics to quantum field theory. The introduction of the principle of conservation of combined parity in his work is adjacent to the theory of second-order phase transitions and the theory of the intermediate state of superconductors. And the study of the foundations of quantum electrodynamics - with the construction of the theory of quantum liquids (in particular, the explanation of the nature of superfluidity belongs to Landau).
Although Landau's scientific work ended about 40 years ago, the results he obtained belong by no means only to the history of science. Landau-Lifshitz and Ginzburg-Landau equations, energy spectrum of superfluid helium, Fermi-liquid theory, Landau damping, Landau energy levels of an electron in a magnetic field, order parameter for describing second-order phase transitions, research into the foundations of quantum electrodynamics, and much more actively "works" in physics today.
Theoretical physics course by Lev Landau
Lev Davidovich's legacy is not limited to the results obtained by him personally and with co-authors. An important place in his creative heritage is occupied by the Course of Theoretical Physics (the famous "Landau and Lifshitz"). It is no exaggeration to say that “The course has changed the face of theoretical physics. Many sections of theoretical physics are presented in it in a completely new way. The authors of the “Course managed to combine the presentation of the main sections of theoretical physics with the consideration of specific natural phenomena. From the disparate disciplines, a single science was born - theoretical physics, having mastered the methods of which, one can take the shortest path to the solution of new, continuously arising problems. Note that one of the "commandments" of Lev Landau says: "Life is too short to spend it on solving problems."
As mentioned earlier, the Course was conceived by Landau in his youth. A detailed plan of the entire course was drawn up, which, naturally, was changed and supplemented, since theoretical physics changed, expanded and improved. Seven volumes have been written with Landau's direct participation: Mechanics, Field Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Physics (Part 1), Hydrodynamics, Theory of Elasticity, and Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. After 1962, one volume - Quantum electrodynamics was written by VB Berestetsky, EM Lifshits and LP Pitaevsky (all of them are students of Landau); two volumes - Statistical Physics (Part 2) and Kinetics were written by EM Lifshits and LP Pitaevsky. “The course of Landau and Lifshitz has been translated into different languages, and several generations of theoretical physicists have studied and are learning from it all over the world. For many, the volumes of the Course are reference books.
Landau's teacher and students
Starting from the Kharkov period, Lev Landau was surrounded by students. He generously gave them his time, shared ideas, at the same time providing complete independence. But Lev Davidovich also received a lot from his students. He himself practically did not read scientific literature. His disciples read and told him. As a rule, Leo was only interested in the concept of the work and the result obtained in it. Landau (often in his own way) reproduced the interesting, but fearsome work. And if the result turned out to be correct, then forever "settled" in the endless memory of Landau, and sometimes fell into the "Golden List", which he kept all his life.
The relationship between Landau and his students was completely informal. Despite the great respect that the students had for the teacher, many of them were with Landau to “you”. Jokes, sometimes very sharp, were allowed on both sides and met without offense. This was especially clearly manifested during the witty skit in honor of the 50th anniversary of Lev Landau. Landau had a very trusting relationship with many of his students. His views, which were very significantly different from the generally accepted ones, Lev Davidovich often openly preached among his disciples.
Landau Seminar
Lev Landau attached great importance to the weekly seminar held at the IPP. The seminar could not be hindered by anything except the illness of the leader. At the seminar, they reported how independent work and articles from magazines. Landau took the preparations for the seminar very seriously. The speaker "from the outside", that is, not one of those whose work he followed directly and knew about its readiness for the report, had to first "push" the work through Landau. Lev Davidovich selected articles from magazines for the report independently and distributed among the students. It was not easy to speak at the seminar: critical remarks, questions were not limited. Any participant in the seminar and, of course, Landau could interrupt the speaker at any moment. In order to “not be driven away” (and this happened), the speaker had to know the work not “in general”, but in all the details, be able to explain all the essential details of the calculation, have a good idea of the state of the experiment and the work of predecessors.
The difficulties of speaking at Landau's seminar paid off: the work reported there and accepted by the audience and Landau, as it were, "received a quality mark" - was perceived as knowingly correct. I must say, there were few errors in the evaluation of the work. Formally, the seminar that Landau created and directed was called the All-Moscow Seminar on Theoretical Physics, but in fact it was attended (as listeners and speakers) by theoretical physicists from many cities of the Soviet Union: Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev, Tbilisi. Many theoretical physicists from various institutes and universities "reached out" to Landau, forming what was called the "Landau School" throughout the scientific world.
The light of an extinguished star
40-50 years for theoretical physics is a long time. Several generations of theoretical physicists have grown up who know Landau only from the “Course and his works, which are still cited. The Institute of Theoretical Physics, named after Landau, was created and operates. Many of Landau's students, students of his students work in various prestigious scientific centers in the West. It is very difficult to evaluate in a small article what Landau did, what he left to people. But when an article comes across in a scientific journal in which a precisely posed problem is solved by an elegant mathematically adequate method, or the speaker at the seminar in a short speech tells how he solved a problem that had haunted theorists for many years, the thought arises that the work, the speech would have liked Landau ... And you understand: in today's theoretical physics, much of its great creators, and Landau is one of them.
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