Aleksandr Ilyich Akhiezer ( ua, Олекса́ндр Іллі́ч Ахіє́зер, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Ахие́зер; October 18, 1911 – May 4, 2000) was a Soviet and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

theoretical physicist 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 ...

, known for contributions to numerous branches of theoretical physics, including

quantum electrodynamics In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and spec ...

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 ...

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles a ...

, and the theory of plasma. He was the brother of the mathematician Naum Akhiezer.

Biography

Akhiezer was born in

Cherykaw Cherykaw ( be, Чэрыкаў; russian: Чериков; pl, Czeryków) is a town in the Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It is located in the east of the Region, on the Sozh River, and serves as the administrative center of Cherykaw District. As o ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

in what is now

Mahilyow Voblast Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region (''oblast'' ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. He studied radio engineering at

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (NTUU KPI) is a public technological university located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Name *1898–1918 Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II *1918–1934 Kyiv ...

in 1929–34. From 1934, he worked at the

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

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.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 physicist ...

and under the supervision of

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 ...

, he studied light-light scattering and was awarded a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1936. When Landau left Kharkiv in 1938, Akhiezer became head of the department of Theoretical Physics. A treatise on wave absorption in modulated

quasiparticles In physics, quasiparticles and collective excitations are closely related emergent phenomena arising when a microscopically complicated system such as a solid behaves as if it contained different weakly interacting particles in vacuum. For e ...

gave him a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

degree in 1941, since when he was

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

at the same place until his death at the age of 89. With

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 Anton K. Valter he founded the faculty of physics and technology. With Pomeranchuk he studied

neutron scattering Neutron scattering, the irregular dispersal of free neutrons by matter, can refer to either the naturally occurring physical process itself or to the man-made experimental techniques that use the natural process for investigating materials. Th ...

and

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

at the Kurchatov nuclear physics institute in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(1944–52).

Awards

*1949 L. I. Mandelshtam Prize of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

*1998 Pomeranchuk Prize

Books

*First Russian book on nuclear reactions (1945) * * * *''Evolving physical picture of the world'' (1973 in Russian; updated version 1996 in English) * *''Physics of elementary particles'' (1979), ''Elementary Particles'' (1986) and ''Biography of elementary particles'' (1979). With Mikhail P. Rekalo. *''From quanta of light to colour quarks'' (1993). With Yu. P. Stepanovsky. * * *

References

1911 births 2000 deaths People from Cherykaw Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute academic personnel Kyiv Polytechnic Institute alumni Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine School of Physics and Technology of University of Kharkiv faculty Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Belarusian Jews Jewish physicists Jewish Ukrainian scientists Jews from the Russian Empire Soviet Jews Ukrainian nuclear physicists Soviet physicists Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology {{Russia-physicist-stub