The National Science Center Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) ( uk, Національний науковий центр «Харківський фізико-технічний інститут»), formerly the Ukrainian Physics and Technology Institute (UPTI) is the oldest and largest

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Physi ...

research centre in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Today it is known as a science center as it consists of several institutes that are part of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology science complex.

History

The institute was founded on 30 October 1928, by the Government of

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

Taravarov, Ya.
Landau in a field of negative values (Ландау в области отрицательных значений)
'. Vokrug Sveta. 15 December 2008. on an initiative of

Abram Ioffe Abram Fedorovich Ioffe ( rus, Абра́м Фёдорович Ио́ффе, p=ɐˈbram ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ɪˈofɛ; – 14 October 1960) was a prominent Russian/Soviet physicist. He received the Stalin Prize (1942), the Lenin Prize (1960) (po ...

on the northern outskirts of

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Piatykhatky Piatykhatky ( uk, П'ятихатки) can refer to * Piatykhatky, a city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast * Piatykhatky, a historic neighborhood in Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Хар ...

) as the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology for the purpose of research on

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

. From the moment of its creation, the institute was run by the

People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry The People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (Narkomtiazhprom; russian: Народный комиссариат тяжёлой промышленности СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union in 1930s. Brief overview The People's ...

. On 10 October 1932 the first experiments in

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

were conducted here. The Soviet nuclear physicists

Anton Valter Anton may refer to: People * Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Anton (surname) Places * Anton Municipality, Bulgaria ** Anton, Sofia Province, a village * Antón District, Panama ** Antón, a town and capital ...

, Georgiy Latyshev,

Cyril Sinelnikov Kirill Dmitriyevich Sinelnikov (russian: Кирилл Дмитриевич Синельников; 29 May 1901, Pavlohrad, Russian Empire — 16 October 1966, Kharkiv, Soviet Union) was a Soviet physicist of Ukrainian origin who was world renowned ...

, and

Aleksandr Leipunskii Aleksandr Il'ich Leipunskii (7 December 1903 – 14 August 1972) was a Polish-born Jewish physicist. He was born in the small village of Dragli, Russian Poland. In 1921, he entered the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1926. He then ...

used a

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

atom nucleus. Later the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology was able to obtain

liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen (LH2 or LH2) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However, for it to be in a fully li ...

and helium. They also constructed a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

station, and the institute became a pioneer of the Soviet high

vacuum engineering Vacuum engineering deals with technological processes and equipment that use vacuum to achieve better results than those run under atmospheric pressure. The most widespread applications of vacuum technology are: * Pyrolytic chromium carbide coatin ...

which was developed into an industrial

vacuum metallurgy Vacuum metallurgy is the field of materials technology that deals with making, shaping, or treating metals in a controlled atmosphere, at pressures significantly less than normal atmospheric pressure.http://processmaterials.com/technology/vacuum-me ...

. During Stalin's

Great Terror The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

in 1938, the institute suffered the so-called

UPTI Affair UPTI Affair ( uk, Справа УФТІ, Sprava UFTI; russian: Дело УФТИ, Delo UFTI) was a criminal case against a number of scholars of the Ukrainian Physics and Technology Institute in Kharkov, Soviet Ukraine, by the GUGB during 1938, a ...

: three leading physicists of the Kharkiv Institute (

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet- Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His a ...

Yuri Rumer Yuri Borisovich Rumer (russian: Юрий Борисович Румер, 28 April 1901 – 1 February 1985) was a Soviet theoretical physicist, who mostly worked in the fields of quantum mechanics and quantum optics. Known in the West as Georg Rume ...

and Moisey Korets) were arrested by the Soviet secret police.Landau, atom splitting and secret bunker. Yak in the crackdown of Stalinist repressions in Kharkiv they set up "Kremnіevu Valley"

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

(12 February 2021) The Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology was the "Laboratory no. 1" for nuclear physics, and was responsible for the first development of a nuclear bomb in the USSR. It was damaged by shelling during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, resulting in heavy damage to the Neutron Source nuclear facility.

Directors

* 1929 — 1933: Ivan Obreimov * 1933 — 1934:

* 1934 — 1936: Semyon Davidovich * 1936 — 1938:

* 1938 — 1941: Aleksandr Shpetny * 1944 — 1965:

* 1965 — 1980: Victor Ivanov * 1980 — 1996:

Viktor Zelensky The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

* 1996 — 2004: Vladimir Lapshin * 2004 — 2017: Ivan Neklyudov * 2017 — present: Nikolay Shulga

Important institutes

Science and education institutions in Pyatykhatky.

Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology

* The Lev Shubnikov Low Temperature Laboratory at the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology was founded in 1931. Lev Shubnikov was a head of the cryogenic laboratory at the Ukrainian Physics and Technology Institute in 1931–1937. In 1935, Rjabinin, Schubnikow experimentally discovered the

Type-II superconductors In superconductivity, a type-II superconductor is a superconductor that exhibits an intermediate phase of mixed ordinary and superconducting properties at intermediate temperature and fields above the superconducting phases. It also features the ...

at the cryogenic laboratory at the institute.J. N. Rjabinin, L.W. Schubnikow, Magnetic properties and critical currents of supra-conducting alloys, Nature, 135, no. 3415, pp. 581-582, 1935. * Institute of

, materials studies and technology *

Plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

institute, Institute of high energy and

* Institute of plasma electronics and new methods of acceleration * Akhiezer Institute of

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

Other institutes

Kharkiv University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

faculty of physics and technology, located nearby.

Notable alumni

* Aleksander Akhiezer *

Naum Akhiezer Naum Ilyich Akhiezer ( uk, Нау́м Іллі́ч Ахіє́зер; russian: link=no, Нау́м Ильи́ч Ахие́зер; 6 March 1901 – 3 June 1980) was a Soviet and Ukrainian mathematician of Jewish origin, known for his works in appr ...

Semion Braude Semion Yakovlevich Braude ( uk, Семен Якович Брауде; 28 January 1911 – 29 June 2003) was a Soviet and Ukrainian physicist and radio astronomer. Of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Braude was born in Poltava, Ukraine, and pursued his hig ...

* Dmitri Ivanenko *

Fritz Houtermans Friedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans (January 22, 1903 – March 1, 1966) was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist and Communist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia to a Dutch father, who was a wealthy banker. He was brought up ...

* Arnold Kosevich * Eduard Kuraev *

Igor Kurchatov Igor Vasil'evich Kurchatov (russian: Игорь Васильевич Курчатов; 12 January 1903 – 7 February 1960), was a Soviet physicist who played a central role in organizing and directing the former Soviet program of nuclear weapo ...

* Oleg Lavrentiev *

Ilya Lifshitz Ilya Mikhailovich Lifshitz (russian: Илья́ Миха́йлович Ли́фшиц; January 13, 1917 – October 23, 1982) was a leading Soviet theoretical physicist, brother of Evgeny Lifshitz. He is known for his works in solid state phys ...

Evgeny Lifshitz Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz (russian: Евге́ний Миха́йлович Ли́фшиц; February 21, 1915, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – October 29, 1985, Moscow, Russian SFSR) was a leading Soviet physicist and brother of the physicist ...

Boris Podolsky Boris Yakovlevich Podolsky (russian: link=no, Бори́с Я́ковлевич Подо́льский; June 29, 1896 – November 28, 1966) was a Russian-American physicist of Jewish descent, noted for his work with Albert Einstein and Nathan ...

Isaak Pomeranchuk Isaak Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk (russian: Исаа́к Я́ковлевич Померанчу́к (Polish spelling: Isaak Jakowliewicz Pomieranczuk); 20 May 1913, Warsaw, Russian Empire – 14 December 1966, Moscow, USSR) was a Soviet Union, Sov ...

Antonina Prikhot'ko Antonina Fedorivna Prykhotko (; 26 April 1906, Pyatigorsk – 29 September 1995, Kyiv), was a Soviet and Ukrainian experimental physicist. She was an Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and is known for her fundamental co ...

* Lev Shubnikov *

László Tisza László Tisza (July 7, 1907 – April 15, 2009) was a Hungarian-born American physicist who was Professor of Physics Emeritus at MIT. He was a colleague of famed physicists Edward Teller, Lev Landau and Fritz London, and initiated the two-flui ...

References

External links

National Science Center, Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology
*
Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

{{authority control Research institutes established in 1928 Nuclear research institutes Science and technology in Ukraine Research institutes in Kharkiv Institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Science centers Kyivskyi District (Kharkiv) Research institutes in the Soviet Union People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry