The topics in . Get ready to meet a new table tomorrow, come up with topics. And today we listen to a friend luciferushka and his theme: "The biography and scientific achievements of the physicist Landau are interesting, and how true are the myths around this unique person?)))"
Let's find out more about this extraordinary figure in the history of Russian science.
In December 1929, the secretary of the director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen made a short entry in the registration book for foreign guests: "Doctor Landau from Leningrad." The doctor at that time was not yet 22 years old, but who would be surprised at this in the famous institute, just like boyish thinness, categorical judgments? Copenhagen was then known as the world capital of quantum physics. And if we continue the metaphor, the great Niels Bohr himself was its permanent mayor. Lev Landau came to him.
It became a common joke that the quantum revolution in the natural sciences of the twentieth century took place in kindergartens in England, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Switzerland ... Einstein was 26 years old when, along with the theory of relativity, he developed a quantum theory of light, Niels Bohr - 28, when he built model of the atom, Werner Heisenberg - 24 at the time of his creation of a version of quantum mechanics ... Therefore, no one was struck by the young age of a doctor from Leningrad. Meanwhile, Landau was already known as the author of a good dozen independent work on quantum problems. He wrote the first of them at the age of 18 - when he studied at the Leningrad University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
This stage in the development of the science of the microworld was called the "age of storm and stress." At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there was a struggle against classical ideas in natural science. Lev Landau was one of those who was simply created for scientific storms and onslaught.
Lev Davidovich Landau was born on January 22, 1908 in Baku in the family of an oil engineer. Mathematical ability he showed up very early: at the age of 12 he learned to differentiate, at 13 - to integrate, and in 1922 he entered the university, where he studied simultaneously at two faculties - physics and mathematics and chemistry. Then Landau transferred to Leningrad University; after graduating from it, in 1927 he entered the graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. In October 1929, by decision of the People's Commissariat for Education, Landau was sent for an internship abroad. He visited Germany, Denmark, England.
During a six-month internship, the young physicist spent a total of 110 days with Niels Bohr. How these days passed was captured in a caricature drawing by another Russian scientist - 26-year-old Georgy Gamov, then already famous for his theory of alpha decay of nuclei. Landau is depicted tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, and Niels Bohr stands over him with a pointing finger and instructively says: “Wait, wait, Landau, let me say at least a word!”. “Such a discussion goes on all the time,” Gamow explained his caricature, adding that in fact it was the most venerable Niels Bohr who did not say a word to anyone.
And yet the true truth was the reckless intransigence of the young and the long-suffering of the teacher. Bora's wife Margaret said: “Niels appreciated and fell in love with Landau from the first day. And I understood his temper... You know, he was unbearable, he wouldn't let Nils talk, he made fun of his elders, he looked like a disheveled boy... It's said about such people: an unbearable child... But how talented he was and how truthful! I also fell in love with him and knew how much he loves Nils ... "
Landau liked to repeat jokingly that he was born several years late. In the 1920s new physics developed so rapidly, as if indeed those born a little earlier than him managed to conquer all the “eight-thousanders in the mountain range of the quantum Himalayas”. He laughingly said to his friend Yuri Rumer, who also trained in Europe: “Like everyone beautiful girls already sorted out, so all the good tasks have already been solved.
By that time, two equivalent versions of quantum mechanics - Heisenberg and Schrödinger - had been basically completed, three key principles were discovered and formulated new science: principles of complementarity, prohibition and uncertainty relation. However, all subsequent creative life Lev Landau demonstrated how much of the unknown was left to him by the micro- and macrocosm.
The Landau school was born in the mid-1930s; its founder was by no means always older than his students. That is why in this school with very strict discipline, all the students were on "you" among themselves, and many - with the teacher. Among them is his closest associate, the future academician Yevgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits. He became Landau's co-author on the famous "Course of Theoretical Physics".
For scientists all over the world, volume after volume, this course turned into a kind of sacred scripture, as the most talented Vladimir Naumovich Gribov once seriously put it. The unique advantage of the course was its encyclopedic nature. Independently studying successively published volumes, both young and venerable theoreticians began to feel themselves experts in the modern physical picture of the micro- and macroworld. “After Enrico Fermi, I am the last universalist in physics,” Landau said more than once, and this was recognized by everyone.
The Landau school was probably the most democratic community in Russian science 30-60s, which anyone could join - from a doctor of science to a schoolboy, from a professor to a laboratory assistant. The only thing that was required of the applicant was to successfully pass the so-called Landau theoretical minimum to the teacher himself (or his trusted collaborator). But everyone knew that this “only one” was a severe test of abilities, will, diligence and devotion to science. The theoretical minimum consisted of nine exams - two in mathematics and seven in physics. It covered everything you need to know before starting to work independently in theoretical physics; passed the theoretical minimum no more than three times. Landau did not allow anyone the fourth attempt. Here he was strict and implacable. He could tell a torn applicant: “Physics will not work out of you. We must call a spade a spade. It would be worse if I misled you."
Yevgeny Lifshits said that starting from 1934, Landau himself introduced a list of names of those who passed the test. And by January 1962, this “grandmaster” list included only 43 names, but 10 of them belonged to academicians and 26 to doctors of science.
Theorminimum - theorkurs - theorseminar ... All over the world three hypostases were known pedagogical activity Landau, thanks to whom he became a teacher for many capital letter, despite the uncompromisingness, harshness, directness and other "anti-pedagogical" features of his difficult character.
The Landau school was notable for its severity even in outward manifestations. It was impossible to be late for the beginning of the theoretical seminar at 11 o'clock in the morning, no matter what super-important events prevented the speaker appointed for this Thursday from reaching the institute on Vorobyovy Gory in time. If someone at 10 hours 59 minutes said: “Dow, it’s time to start!”, Landau answered: “No, Migdal has another minute so as not to be late ...”. And the impetuous Arkady Beinusovich Migdal (1911-1991) really ran through the open door. This last minute was called "Migdal". “And you will never be king! - Lev Davidovich inspired a promising doctor of sciences, who was at odds with the clock. Accuracy is the courtesy of kings, and you are not polite. Migdal never became king, but became an academic. At the seminars, Landau mercilessly denied empty theorizing, calling it pathology. And instantly lit up, hearing a fruitful idea.
In 1958, physicists, solemnly celebrating Landau's 50th birthday, could not arrange an exhibition of his experimental setups or devices created by him at the Institute physical problems. On the other hand, academicians and students, who came up with and pre-ordered marble tablets - Landau's Ten Commandments - from the workshops of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, were ordered in advance. In imitation of the ten biblical commandments, the ten main ones were engraved on two marble tablets. physical formulas Landau, about whom his student, academician Yuri Moiseevich Kagan (born in 1928), said: "It was the most common of the most important things that Dau discovered."
And four years after the anniversary, Landau's life hung by a thread...
There was bad weather. The strongest ice. The girl ran across the road. A car that braked sharply skidded sharply. The impact of an oncoming truck came from the side. And all his strength was tested by the passenger sitting at the door. An ambulance took Landau to the hospital. The famous Czech neurosurgeon Zdeněk Kunz, who urgently flew to Moscow, delivered a verdict: "The patient's life is incompatible with the injuries received."
And he survived!
This miracle was created together with the doctors of physics. The luminaries of medicine, such as the Canadian neurosurgeon Penfield, and the luminaries of physics, among them Niels Bohr himself, joined forces to save Landau. At their request, medicines were flown to Moscow from America, England, Belgium, Canada, France, and Czechoslovakia. The pilots of international airlines have joined the relay race for the transfer of urgently needed drugs to Russia.
Academicians Nikolai Nikolayevich Semyonov and Vladimir Alexandrovich Engelhardt already on that very ill-fated Sunday, January 7, synthesized a substance against cerebral edema. And although they were ahead of them - a ready-made medicine was delivered from England, for which the departure of the flight to Russia was delayed for an hour - but what an active breakthrough was the two 70-year-old colleagues of the victim!
On that spring day, when everyone had the feeling of having won the fight against death, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa said: “... this is a noble film that should be called“ If the guys of the whole world! .. ”- and immediately corrected himself, clarifying: - It would be better "Scientific guys of the whole world!". And he proposed to give such a name to the first newspaper essay about the miracle of the resurrection of Landau.
Niels Bohr immediately decided to psychologically support Landau. A letter signed by 77-year-old Bohr left Copenhagen with the proposal “... The Nobel Prize in Physics for 1962 should be awarded to Lev Davidovich Landau for the truly decisive influence that his original ideas and outstanding work had on the atomic physics of our time."
The prize, contrary to tradition, was presented by the Swedes to Landau not in Stockholm, but in Moscow, at the hospital of the Academy of Sciences. And he could neither prepare nor read the obligatory Nobel lecture for the laureate. To Landau's greatest regret, the initiator of the award, Niels Bohr, was not present at the award ceremony - he passed away in the late autumn of 1962, without having time to make sure that his last good will towards the great student was realized.
And Lev Davidovich Landau lived for another six years and celebrated his 60th birthday among his students. This was his last anniversary date: Landau died in 1968.
Landau died a few days after the operation to eliminate intestinal obstruction. Diagnosis - thrombosis of mesenteric vessels. Death occurred as a result of blockage of the artery by a detached thrombus. Landau's wife, in her memoirs, expressed doubts about the competence of some of the doctors who treated Landau, especially doctors from special clinics for the treatment of the USSR leadership.
In the history of science, he will remain one of the legendary figures of the 20th century, a century that deserved the tragic honor of being called atomic. According to Landau's direct testimony, he did not feel a shadow of enthusiasm, participating in the undeniably heroic epic of the creation of the Soviet nuclear power industry. He was driven only by civic duty and incorruptible scientific honesty. In the early 1950s, he said: “... every effort must be made so as not to enter the thick of atomic affairs ... smart person is self-removal from the tasks that the state sets for itself, especially the Soviet state, which is built on oppression.
Scientific legacy of Landau
Landau's scientific heritage is so great and varied that it is even hard to imagine how one person could manage to do this in just some 40 years. He developed the theory of diamagnetism of free electrons - Landau's diamagnetism (1930), together with Evgeny Lifshitz created the theory of the domain structure of ferromagnets and obtained the equation of motion magnetic moment- the Landau-Lifshitz equation (1935), introduced the concept of antiferromagnetism as a special phase of a magnet (1936), derived the kinetic equation for plasma in the case of Coulomb interaction and established the form of the collision integral for charged particles (1936), created the theory of second-order phase transitions (1935- 1937), first obtained the relation between the level density in the nucleus and the excitation energy (1937), which makes it possible to consider Landau (along with Hans Bethe and Victor Weiskopf) one of the creators of the statistical theory of the nucleus (1937), created the theory of superfluidity of helium II, thus setting the beginning of the creation of the physics of quantum liquids (1940-1941), together with Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg built the phenomenological theory of superconductivity (1950), developed the theory of the Fermi liquid (1956), simultaneously with Abdus Salam, Tzundao Li and Zhenning Yang and independently proposed the conservation law combined parity and advanced the theory of the two-component neutrino (1957). For pioneering research in the theory of condensed matter, in particular the theory of liquid helium, Landau was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1962.
Landau's great merit is the creation of a national school of theoretical physicists, which included such scientists as, for example, I. Ya. Pomeranchuk, I. M. Lifshits, E. M. Lifshits, A. A. Abrikosov, A. B. Migdal , L. P. Pitaevsky, I. M. Khalatnikov. The scientific seminar led by Landau, which has already become a legend, entered the history of theoretical physics.
Landau is the creator of the classical course in theoretical physics (together with Evgeny Lifshitz). "Mechanics", "Field Theory", "Quantum Mechanics", "Statistical Physics", "Mechanics of Continuous Media", "Electrodynamics of Continuous Media", and all together - the multi-volume "Course of Theoretical Physics", which has been translated into many languages and to this day day continues to enjoy the well-deserved love of physics students.
Knights of the Spherical Puff
One of the most outstanding Soviet physicists, Nobel Laureate In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Academician Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-1968) led a group of theorists who carried out fantastically complex calculations of nuclear and thermonuclear chain reactions in the hydrogen bomb being designed. It is known that the main theorist in the Soviet atomic bomb project was Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, later Igor Evgenievich Tamm, Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg were involved in the hydrogen bomb project (here I name only those scientists whose participation was decisive, without belittling the enormous contribution of dozens of other outstanding scientists and designers).
Much less is known about the participation of Landau and his group, which included Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz, Naum Natanovich Meiman, and other collaborators. Meanwhile, recently in the leading American popular science magazine Scientific American (1997, # 2), in an article by Gennady Gorelik, it was stated that the Landau group managed to do something that turned out to be beyond the strength of the Americans. Our scientists gave a complete calculation of the basic model of a hydrogen bomb, the so-called spherical puff, in which layers with nuclear and thermonuclear explosives alternated - the explosion of the first shell created a temperature of millions of degrees, necessary to ignite the second. The Americans were unable to calculate such a model and postponed the calculations until the advent of powerful computers. Ours is all calculated manually. And calculated correctly. In 1953, the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was detonated. Its main creators, including Landau, became Heroes Socialist Labor. Many others were awarded Stalin Prizes (including Landau's student and closest friend Yevgeny Lifshitz).
Naturally, all participants in the projects for the manufacture of atomic and hydrogen bombs were under the tight control of the special services. Especially leading scientists. It couldn't be otherwise. Now it’s even somehow inconvenient to remind widely known history about how the Americans literally blew their atomic bomb. This refers to the German émigré, physicist Klaus Fuchs, who worked for Soviet intelligence and handed over to our drawings of the bomb, which dramatically accelerated the work on its manufacture. It is much less known that the Soviet spy Margarita Konenkova (wife of the famous sculptor) worked for our intelligence ... in bed with Albert Einstein, being the lover of a brilliant physicist for a number of years. Since Einstein did not actually participate in the American atomic project, she could not report anything of real value. But, again, it is impossible not to admit that the Soviet state security, in principle, acted quite correctly, surrounding potential sources of important information with their secret agents.
Documentary "Landau's Ten Commandments"
Cherenkov effect
In 1958, the Nobel Prize was awarded to three Soviet scientists - Cherenkov P.A., Frank I.M. and Tamm I.E. "for his discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect." Sometimes in the literature this effect is called the "Cherenkov-Vavilov effect" ("Polytechnic Dictionary", Moscow, 1980).
It consists in the following: it is “radiation of light (other than luminescent), arising from the movement of charged particles in a substance, when their speed exceeds the phase velocity of light in this medium. It is used in counters of charged particles (Cherenkov counters)." In this case, a legitimate question arises: is it not strange that one author and two interpreters of this discovery receive a prize for the discovery of the effect? The answer to this question is contained in the book by Kora Landau-Drobantseva "Academician Landau".
“So I.E. Tamm, through Landau’s “fault”, received the Nobel Prize at the expense of Cherenkov: Dau received a request from the Nobel Committee regarding the “Cherenkov Effect” ...
A little reference - Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1970, member of the Bureau of the Department of Nuclear Physics, back in 1934 showed that when a fast charged particle moves in a completely pure liquid or solid dielectric, a special glow arises, fundamentally different from both the fluorescent glow, and from bremsstrahlung of the X-ray continuous spectrum type. In the 1970s P.A. Cherenkov worked at the Physical Institute. P.I.Lebedev Academy of Sciences of the USSR (FIAN).
“Dau explained to me this way: “It is unfair to give such a noble prize, which should be awarded to the outstanding minds of the planet, to one cudgel Cherenkov, who has not done anything serious in science. He worked in the laboratory of Frank-Kamenetsky in Leningrad. His boss is a legitimate co-author. Their Institute was advised by Muscovite I.E. Tamm. It just needs to be added to the two legitimate candidates (highlighted by me - V.B.).
We add that, according to the testimony of students who listened to Landau's lectures at that time, when asked to him: who is the number one physicist, he answered: "Tamm is the second."
“You see, Korusha, Igor Evgenievich Tamm is very good man. Everyone loves him, he does a lot of useful things for technology, but, to my great regret, all his works in science exist until I read them. If I were not there, his mistakes would not have been discovered. He always agrees with me, but gets very upset. I brought him too much grief in our short life. He is simply wonderful man. Co-authorship in Nobel Prize it just makes him happy."
In introducing the Nobel laureates, Manne Sigbahn, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recalled that although Cherenkov "established general properties newly discovered radiation, there was no mathematical description of this phenomenon. The work of Tamm and Frank, he went on to say, provided "an explanation that, in addition to simplicity and clarity, also satisfied rigorous mathematical requirements."
But as early as 1905, Sommerfeld, in fact, even before Cherenkov's discovery of this phenomenon, gave his theoretical prediction. He wrote about the appearance of radiation when an electron moves in a vacuum with superluminal speed. But due to the established opinion that the speed of light in a vacuum cannot be exceeded by any material particle, this work of Sommerfeld was recognized as erroneous, although the situation when an electron moves faster speed light in the medium, as shown by Chereshkov, is quite possible.
Igor Evgenievich Tamm, apparently, was not satisfied with receiving the Nobel Prize for the Cherenkov effect: “as Igor Evgenievich himself admitted, it would be much more pleasant for him to receive an award for another scientific result - the exchange theory of nuclear forces” (“One Hundred Great Scientists”). Apparently, the courage for such a recognition took its origins from his father, who “during the Jewish pogrom in Elizavetgrad ... alone went to the crowd of Black Hundreds with a cane and dispersed it” (“One Hundred Great Scientists”).
“Subsequently, during Tamm’s lifetime, at one of the general meetings of the Academy of Sciences, one academician publicly accused him of unfairly appropriating someone else’s piece of the Nobel Prize.” (Landau-Drobantsev bark).
The passages quoted above suggest a number of reflections:
If Landau and Cherenkov were to be swapped in this situation, saying about the "club of Landau", this would be perceived as a manifestation of extreme anti-Semitism, here one can speak of Landau as an extreme Russophobe.
Academician Landau behaves like a scientific representative of God on earth, deciding who to reward for personal devotion to himself, who to punish.
Answering his wife’s question: “Would you agree to accept part of this prize, like Tamm?”, the academician said: “... firstly, all my real works have no co-authors, and secondly, many of my works have long deserved the Nobel Prize, thirdly, if I publish my works with co-authors, then this co-authorship is more necessary for my co-authors ... ”.
Saying such words, the academician, as they now say, was somewhat cunning, which will be seen from what follows.
And another interesting episode described by Landau's wife: “Dau, why did you expel Vovka Levich from your students? Have you quarreled with him forever? - Yes, I "anathematized" him. You see, I arranged him for Frumkin, whom I considered an honest scientist, in the past he had good work. Vovka did a decent job on his own, I know. And in the press this work appeared with the signatures of Frumkin and Levich, and Frumkin promoted Levich to a member of the correspondent. There has been some bargaining. I also stopped saying hello to Frumkin…”.
If we try to combine the episode with the forced co-authorship of the Cherenkov Effect with the last episode of Frumkin-Levich, then the question arises whether Academician Landau was offended by Vovka because he received the title of Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences from the hands of Frumkin, and not from Landau "himself"? Moreover, as can be seen from the comparison and from the texts cited here, Landau could not be bothered by the problems of false co-authorship.
Landau said: "... When I die, then the Lenin Committee will definitely award the Lenin Prize posthumously ...".
“Dau was awarded the Lenin Prize when he was not yet dead, but lay dying. But not for scientific discoveries. He was given Zhenya as a companion and was awarded the Lenin Prize for a course of books on theoretical physics, although this work was not completed at that time, two volumes were missing ... ".
Here, however, not all is well either. So, if we recall that in the study of Marxism, three sources of it were mentioned, so in this case, three sources of theoretical physics were widely used: the first - Whittaker "Analytical Dynamics", published in Russian in 1937, the second - "Course of Theoretical Physics " A. Sommerfeld, the third - "Atomic spectra and the structure of the atom" by the same author.
Landau and Vlasov
Surname Vlasov A.A. (1908-1975), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, author of the dispersion equation on plasma theory, is difficult to find in the general educational literature, now a mention of this scientist has appeared in the new encyclopedia, somewhere in four or five lines.
In the article by M. Kovrov “Landau and others” (“Tomorrow” No. 17, 2000), the author writes: “In a solid scientific journal"Physics of Plasma" published an article by leading experts in this field A.F. Aleksandrov and A.A. Rukhadze "On the history of fundamental works on the kinetic theory of plasma." This story is like this.
In the 1930s, Landau derived the plasma kinetic equation, which was to be called the Landau equation in the future. At the same time, Vlasov pointed out its incorrectness: it was derived under the assumption of a gaseous approximation, that is, that the particles are in free flight most of the time and only occasionally collide, but “a system of charged particles is essentially not a gas, but a kind of system pulled together by distant forces »; the interaction of a particle with all plasma particles by means of the electromagnetic fields created by them is the main interaction, while the pair interactions considered by Landau should be taken into account only as small corrections.
I quote the mentioned article: "Vlasov first introduced ... the concept of the dispersion equation and found its solution", "obtained with the help of this equation, including primarily by Vlasov himself, the results formed the basis of the modern kinetic theory of plasma", Vlasov's merits "are recognized by the whole world scientific community, which approved in scientific literature the name of the kinetic equation with a self-consistent field as the Vlasov equation. Every year, hundreds and hundreds of papers on plasma theory are published in the world scientific press, and in every second, at least, the name of Vlasov is pronounced.
“Only narrow specialists with a good memory remember the existence of the erroneous Landau equation.
However, Alexandrov and Rukhadze write, even now “the appearance in 1949 (below in the text M. Kovrov notes that this article actually refers to 1946 - V.B.) is puzzling, a work that sharply criticized Vlasov, moreover, essentially unreasonable."
The bewilderment is caused by the fact that in this work (authors V.L. Ginzburg, L.D. Landau, M.A. Leontovich, V.A. Fok) nothing is said about the fundamental monograph by N.N. Bogolyubov in 1946, which by that time had received universal recognition and was often cited in the literature, where the Vlasov equation and its justification already appeared in the form in which it is known now.
“There are no excerpts from Ginzburg et al. in the article by Aleksandrov and Rukhadze, but they are curious: “the application of the self-consistent field method” leads to conclusions that contradict the simple and indisputable consequences of classical statistics”, just below - “the application of the self-consistent field method leads (as we are now show) to results whose physical irregularity is already visible in itself”; “we leave aside here the mathematical errors of A.A. Vlasov, made by him in solving equations and leading him to the conclusion about the existence of a “dispersion equation” (the same one that today is the basis modern theory plasma). After all, if they brought these texts, it turns out that Landau and Ginzburg do not understand the simple and indisputable consequences of classical physics, not to mention mathematics.
M. Kovrov says that Alexandrov and Rukhadze.! “It was proposed to call the Vlasov equation the Vlasov-Landau equation. On the grounds that Vlasov himself believed that the pair interactions considered by Landau, albeit as small corrections, should be taken into account, completely forgetting about the persecution organized by Landau. “And only an accidental car accident changed the situation: after Landau’s death in 1968, the general public saw in the lists of laureates of the Lenin Prize in 1970 the unknown name of Vlasov ...”.
The author also quotes from Landau: “Consideration of the indicated works of Vlasov led us to the conviction of their complete inconsistency and the absence of any results in them! having scientific value ... no "dispersion equation exists."
M. Kovrov writes: “In 1946, two of the authors of the devastating work directed against Vlasov were elected academicians, the third received Stalin Prize. Ginzburg's services will not be forgotten: later he will also become an academician and people's deputy of the USSR from the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Here again the question arises: if you were in the place of Vlasov, say, Abramovich, and in the place of Ginzburg, Landau, Leontovich, Fock, say, Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov, Alekseev, then how would such persecution be perceived by the “progressive public”? The answer is simple - as a manifestation of extreme anti-Semitism and "inciting ethnic hatred."
M. Kovrov concludes: "... In 1946, an attempt was made to completely seize key positions in science by Jews, which led to its degradation and the almost complete destruction of the scientific environment ...".
However, by the 60s and 70s, the situation improved somewhat and it turned out that literate people sat on the committee for awarding the Lenin Prizes: Landau received the prize not for scientific achievements, but for the creation of a series of textbooks, and Vlasov for achievements in science!
But, as M. Kovrov notes, “The Institute of Theoretical Physics Russian Academy Nauk bears the name of Landau, not Vlasov. And that, as Jewish scientists like to say, is a medical fact!
With a close acquaintance with the attitude of Academician Landau to other people's work, an interesting detail turns out - he was very jealous and negative about other people's work. scientific achievements. So in 1957, for example, speaking at the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University, Landau stated that Dirac had lost his understanding of theoretical physics, and his critical and ironic attitude to the generally recognized theory of structure atomic nucleus, developed by D.D. Ivanenko, was also widely known among theoretical physicists.
Note that Paul Dirac formulated the laws of quantum statistics, developed the relativistic theory of electron motion, on the basis of which the existence of the positron was predicted. He won the 1933 Nobel Prize for the discovery of new productive forms atomic theory.
LANDAU AND THE ATOMIC BOMB
Kora Landau describes her husband's participation in the creation of the atomic bomb as follows: “It was the time when ... Kurchatov headed these works. He possessed a powerful organizing talent. The first thing he did was to make a list of the physicists he needed. The first in this list was L.D. Landau. In those years, only Landau alone could make a theoretical calculation for an atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And he did it with great responsibility and with a clear conscience. He said, "America alone must not be allowed to possess the weapons of the devil!" And yet Dow was Dow! He set a condition for Kurchatov, who was powerful in those days: “I will calculate the bomb, I will do everything, but I will come to your meetings in extremely necessary cases. All my materials on the calculation will be brought to you by Dr. Ya.B. Zel'dovich, and Zel'dovich will also sign my calculations. This is technology, and my calling is science.”
As a result, Landau received one star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, and Zeldovich and Sakharov received three each.
And further: " Military equipment A.D. Sakharov was engaged, and he got the first hydrogen bomb for the death of mankind! A paradox arose - the author of the hydrogen bomb was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace! How can mankind combine the hydrogen bomb and peace?
Yes, A.D. Sakharov is very good, honest, kind, talented. All this is so! But why did the talented physicist trade science for politics? When he created the hydrogen bomb, no one interfered in his affairs! Already in the second half of the seventies, I spoke with a talented physicist, academician, student of Landau: "Tell me: if Sakharov is one of the most talented theoretical physicists, why did he never visit Landau?" They answered me: “Sakharov is a student of I.E. Tamm. He, like Tamm, was engaged in technical calculations ... And Sakharov and Landau had nothing to talk about, he was a physicist-technician, mainly worked for military equipment.
What happened to Sakharov when he made this ill-fated bomb? His kind, subtle soul broke down, there was a psychological breakdown. A kind, honest person turned out to be an evil devilish toy. There is something to climb the wall. And his wife, the mother of his children, also died…”
Secret materials of the KGB
Today, many documents of the Soviet period have been declassified. Here is what Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A. N. Yakovlev writes:
The declassified KGB case against the famous scientist gives an idea of the scale and methods of political investigation and pressure on a person in a very recent era - what was reported, what was imputed, what was imprisoned
sources
http://www.epwr.ru/quotauthor/txt_487.php,
http://ru.science.wikia.com/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B2_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%83
http://www.peoples.ru/science/physics/landau/history2.html
http://landafshits.narod.ru/Dau_KGB_57.htm
Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with
Of course, writers, philosophers and other humanitarians of various stripes can speak beautifully about everything in the world, but only physicists truly understand the world and the nature of things. In addition, these are real dreamers, romantics and people with the most developed imagination.
website shares quotes from great scientists that can inspire anyone to creative exploits.
Nikola Tesla
Inventor in the field of electrical and radio engineering, engineer, physicist.
- Do you know the expression "You can't jump above your head"? It's a delusion. Man can do everything.
- The action of even the smallest creature leads to changes in the entire universe.
- Modern scientists think deeply instead of thinking clearly. To think clearly, you need to have common sense, but you can think deeply even when you are completely crazy.
- If there is no way to successfully attack any state, the wars will stop.
Lev Landau
Soviet theoretical physicist, founder scientific school, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nobel Prize in Physics (1962).
- The greatest achievement of human genius is that man can understand things he can no longer imagine.
- Everyone has enough strength to live life with dignity. And all this talk about what a difficult time it is now is a clever way to justify your inaction, laziness and various dullness. It is necessary to work, and there, you see, times will change.
- The worst sin is being bored! ... The Last Judgment will come, the Lord God will call and ask: “Why didn’t you enjoy all the blessings of life? Why did you miss it?
- Women are worthy of admiration. For many things, but especially for their patience. I am convinced that if men had to give birth, humanity would quickly die out.
Niels Bohr
Danish physicist and philosopher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1922).
- An expert is a person who has made every possible mistake in a very narrow specialty.
- Your idea is, of course, insane. It's all about whether she's crazy enough to be true.
- If you the quantum physics didn’t frighten me, so you didn’t understand anything about her.
Petr Kapitsa
Soviet engineer, physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Nobel Prize in Physics (1978).
- Nothing prevents a person tomorrow from becoming smarter than he was yesterday.
- A person is young when he is not afraid to do stupid things.
- The main sign of talent is when a person knows what he wants.
- Freedom of creativity - freedom to make mistakes.
The Soviet era can be regarded as a very productive period of time. Even in the difficult post-war period, scientific developments in the USSR were financed quite generously, and the profession of a scientist was prestigious and well paid.
A favorable financial background, coupled with the presence of truly gifted people, brought remarkable results: in Soviet period a whole galaxy of physicists arose, whose names are known not only in the post-Soviet space, but throughout the world.
Vavilov. (wikipedia.org)
Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov (1891−1951). Despite his far from proletarian origin, this scientist managed to defeat class filtration and become the founding father of an entire school of physical optics. Vavilov is a co-author of the discovery of the Vavilov-Cherenkov effect, for which later (after the death of Sergei Ivanovich) the Nobel Prize was received.
Ginzburg. (wikipedia.org)
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg (1916−2009). The scientist received wide recognition for experiments in the field of nonlinear optics and microoptics; and also for research in the field of luminescence polarization.
Ginzburg is largely responsible for the appearance of common fluorescent lamps: it was he who actively developed applied optics and endowed purely theoretical discoveries with practical value.
Landau. (wikipedia.org)
Lev Davidovich Landau (1908−1968). The scientist is known not only as one of the founders of the Soviet school of physics, but also as a person with sparkling humor. Lev Davidovich derived and formulated several basic concepts in quantum theory, spent fundamental research in the field ultra-low temperatures and superfluidity. At present, Landau has become a legend in theoretical physics: his contribution is remembered and honored.
Sakharov. (wikipedia.org)
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1921−1989). The co-inventor of the hydrogen bomb and a brilliant nuclear physicist sacrificed his health for the cause of peace and common security. The scientist is the author of the invention of the Sakharov puff scheme. Andrei Dmitrievich is a vivid example of how recalcitrant scientists were treated in the USSR: long years of dissent undermined Sakharov's health and did not allow his talent to reveal its full potential.
Kapitsa. (wikipedia.org)
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (1894−1984). The scientist can rightly be called " calling card"Soviet science - the name" Kapitsa "was known to every citizen of the USSR, young and old.
Petr Leonidovich made a huge contribution to low-temperature physics: as a result of his research, science was enriched with many discoveries. These include the phenomenon of helium superfluidity, the establishment of cryogenic bonds in various substances and much more.
The Soviet era can be regarded as a very productive period of time. Even in the difficult post-war period, scientific developments in the USSR were financed quite generously, and the profession of a scientist was prestigious and well paid.
A favorable financial background, coupled with the presence of truly gifted people, brought remarkable results: in the Soviet period, a whole galaxy of physicists emerged, whose names are known not only in the post-Soviet space, but throughout the world.
In the USSR, the profession of a scientist was prestigious and well paid.
Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov(1891−1951). Despite his far from proletarian origin, this scientist managed to defeat class filtration and become the founding father of an entire school of physical optics. Vavilov is a co-author of the discovery of the Vavilov-Cherenkov effect, for which later (after the death of Sergei Ivanovich) the Nobel Prize was received.
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg(1916−2009). The scientist received wide recognition for experiments in the field of nonlinear optics and microoptics; and also for research in the field of luminescence polarization.
The appearance of fluorescent lamps is a considerable merit of Ginzburg
Ginzburg is largely responsible for the appearance of common fluorescent lamps: it was he who actively developed applied optics and endowed purely theoretical discoveries with practical value.
Lev Davidovich Landau(1908−1968). The scientist is known not only as one of the founders of the Soviet school of physics, but also as a person with sparkling humor. Lev Davidovich deduced and formulated several basic concepts in quantum theory, conducted fundamental research in the field of ultralow temperatures and superfluidity. At present, Landau has become a legend in theoretical physics: his contribution is remembered and honored. 
Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov(1921−1989). The co-inventor of the hydrogen bomb and a brilliant nuclear physicist sacrificed his health for the cause of peace and common security. The scientist is the author of the invention of the Sakharov puff scheme. Andrei Dmitrievich is a vivid example of how recalcitrant scientists were treated in the USSR: long years of dissent undermined Sakharov's health and did not allow his talent to reveal its full potential. 
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa(1894−1984). The scientist can rightly be called the "calling card" of Soviet science - the name "Kapitsa" was known to every citizen of the USSR, young and old.
The surname "Kapitsa" was known to every citizen of the USSR
Petr Leonidovich made a huge contribution to low-temperature physics: as a result of his research, science was enriched with many discoveries. These include the phenomenon of helium superfluidity, the establishment of cryogenic bonds in various substances, and much more. 
Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov(1903−1960). Contrary to popular belief, Kurchatov worked not only on nuclear and hydrogen bombs: main stream scientific research Igor Vasilyevich was devoted to the development of the splitting of the atom for peaceful purposes. The scientist did a lot of work in theory magnetic field: Until now, many ships use the demagnetization system invented by Kurchatov. In addition to scientific intuition, the physicist had good organizational skills: under the leadership of Kurchatov, many complex projects were implemented.
