Artem Alikhanian
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Artem Alikhanian (; ; 24 June 1908 – 25 February 1978) was a Soviet physicist of Armenian origin, one of the founders and first director of the Yerevan Physics Institute, a correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1946), academic of the
Armenian National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates activ ...
. With
Pyotr Kapitsa Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa or Peter Kapitza (, ; – 8 April 1984) was a leading Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate, whose research focused on low-temperature physics. Biography Kapitsa was born in Kronstadt, Russian Empire, to the Bessar ...
,
Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. He was considered as one of the last scientists who were universally well-versed and ma ...
, Igor Kurchatov, Abram Alikhanov and others, he laid the foundations of nuclear physics in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. He is known as the "father of Armenian physics".Artem Alikhanian: the father of Armenian physics
, ''CERN Courier'', Vol. 48, N. 6, 2008, p. 41


Biography

Artem Alikhanian was born in Elizavetpol, Russian Empire, to an Armenian family of a railway engineer and homemaker. They had four children: two sons (the elder, Abram Alikhanov, became a well-known physicist) and two daughters. In 1912 the family moved to
Aleksandropol Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...
. He worked as a
waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...
and a newspaper seller. Alikhanian did not attend school regularly; initially he was mostly schooled at home but later he received an external degree from ''
Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
school № 100''. In 1930, before he graduated from Leningrad State University, he became a staff-member at Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute working together with his elder brother Abram Alikhanov. The work of their group was devoted to the investigation of pair production and of the resultant positron spectrum. For observation of positrons, Alikhanov, his student M. Kozodaev and Alikhanian used an original combination of a magnetic spectrometer and two contiguous Geiger-Müller counters making coincidence counts. This work became a starting point for the application of radio engineering to experimental nuclear physics in the Soviet Union. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, they carried out fundamental investigations of
beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron ...
, discovered the internal conversion of
gamma rays A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...
and confirmed experimentally the energy conservation in positron annihilation. In 1934 their research group (B. Dzhelepov, Alikhanov and Alikhanian) was among the pioneers observing the phenomenon of
radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
. A method of determining the rest mass of the neutrino, using decay of the nuclei of Be7, was suggested by Alikhanov and Alikhanian in 1938. For their investigations both brothers (without being Communist party members) were awarded the Stalin Prize. In 1942, they initiated a scientific mission on
Mount Aragats Mount Aragats (, ) is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at above sea level, is the highest point of the Lesser Caucasus and Armenia. It is also one of the highest points in the Armenian Highlands. The Ar ...
in order to search for the third (proton) component of
cosmic rays Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar ...
. They found so called narrow showers in cosmic rays and established the first evidence of the existence in cosmic rays of the particles with masses between that of a
muon A muon ( ; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 '' e'' and a spin of  ''ħ'', but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a ...
and
proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...
. During the
siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
Alikhanian and some his colleagues were excused from full-time defense work in order to work on the design of a synchrocyclotron - the accelerator which was eventually constructed in
Dubna Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and o ...
in 1955. In 1948, A. Alikhanov and A. Alikhanian again were awarded the Stalin Prize for the investigation of cosmic rays. After they founded a cosmic ray station on Aragats at an altitude of 3250 m, the two brothers participated in the foundation of the
Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates acti ...
and established the Yerevan Physics Institute in 1943. A. Alikhanian became its director for the next 30 years. In 1956, Alikhanian, Alikhanov and Viktor Ambartsumian initiated the creation of the Yerevan
Synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
with 6 GeV energy of
electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
s. In 1965,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
invited Alikhanian to give the Loeb and Lee lectures in Physics. He became the first Loeb professor of Harvard University from
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.Alikhanian. Sketches, memoirs, documents, ed. M. Daion, Moscow, 2000, p. 302 Alikhanian was a Doctor of physical-mathematical sciences, Professor of
Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...
, head of the physical laboratory in the Lebedev Institute, founder and scientific supervisor of the Nuclear Physics chair in the
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) () is a public university, public technical university in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1942 as the Moscow Mechanical Institute of Munitions, but was soon renam ...
, founder of the high-altitude Aragats and Nor-Amberd research stations. In recognition of his scientific achievements and contribution he was awarded the "Honored Scientist of Armenian SSR" title in 1967. For the work on wide-gap track spark chambers in 1970 A.Alikhanian together with the colleagues were awarded the
Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...
. Later he initiated work on
x-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
transition radiation detectors.


Works

Alikhanian's works are dedicated to nuclear physics, cosmic rays and elementary particle physics, accelerator physics and technology. Among with his co-workers Alikhanov, Lev Artsimovich and others, he: *discovered the production of electron-positron pairs by internal energy conversion (1934), *experimentally confirmed energy conservation in positron annihilation (1936), *conducted precision measurements on the data spectra of a large number of radioactive elements and discovered the dependence of spectral shape on the atomic number, *proposed the experimental method to prove the existence of neutrinos through nuclear recoil in electron capture in 7Be, *discovered streams of fast protons in the cosmic rays, the intense productions of protons by fast neutrons, the so-called narrow shower, and the first hints of particles with masses ranging between those of the muon and the proton, *contributed to the development of methods for the detection of high-energy particles, in particular the Alikhanian–Alikhanov spectrometer, wide-gap spark chambers, and X-ray transition radiation detectors. In 1963 he introduced the idea of creating a spark chamber where the gap between plates was wide enough to be able to observe spark trails of up to 20 cm. This invention was considered one of the major milestones in the history of the Spark Chamber. He led the construction of 6 GeV Armenian electron synchrotron (Yerevan). Alikhanian was also an experienced educator. From 1961 to 1975 he organized the world-renowned annual International Schools of High Energy Physics at Nor-Amberd, with participation of many academics and
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
laureates. According to Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky and Raymond Wilson, Alikhanian made "very important contributions to science, in particular, in the use of transition radiation as an important tool in particle detection and identification".


Personality

Alikhanian was also known as a kind and highly inventive personality, his "great erudition captivated everyone". He was in good relations with academicians Isaak Pomeranchuk, Arkady Migdal, Lev Artsimovich and
Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. He was considered as one of the last scientists who were universally well-versed and ma ...
, composer
Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...
(he was a colleague of the composer's wife, Nina Varzar, who died in Armenia, in 1954. She and Alikhanian had an affair allegedly before the outbreak of the WWII, which Shostakovich himself recognized.), writers Mikhail Zoshchenko and Marietta Shaginyan, professor and dissident Yuri Orlov, sculptor Arto Tchakmaktchian, painters Martiros Saryan,
Haroutiun Galentz Haroutiun Galentz, (; March 27, 1910 in Gürün, Kyurin - March 7, 1967 in Yerevan) also known as Kalents, was a prolific Armenians, Armenian painter. Biography Galentz was born in Gürün, Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey) on March 27 of 1910 ...
and Minas Avetisyan. Alikhanian organized visits of Arkady Raikin,
Andrei Sakharov Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world. Alt ...
and Yelena Bonner to Armenia, hosted
Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled ("strongly ...
at his house in Yerevan (as Yuri Orlov writes, there were rumours, that Alikhanian had a web of his own spies, who helped to protect him and his colleagues from the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
). He actively supported international cooperation of scientists. Alikhanian resigned from his position at YerPhI in 1973 and left
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
, after conflicts with very high level Soviet statesmen. The film '' Hello, That's Me!'' is based on Alikhanian's biography. Mitchell A. Wilson, while working on "Meeting at a Far Meridian" novel, visited Alikhanian in Armenia and lived there for several months.


Remembrance

Yerevan Physics Institute and a street in
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
are named after him. His statue stands at Alikhanyan Square,
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
. Also there is a Memorial Cabinet-museum of Alikhanyan opened in the central building of the Yerevan Physics Institute.


Selected articles

* Alikhanian A.I., Alikhanov A.I., Nikitin S. Highly ionizing particles in soft component of cosmic rays J. Phys., 9, pp. 175–182, 1945. * Alikhanian A.I., Asatiani T.L. Investigation of Auger Showers. J. Phys., 9, pp. 167–174, 1945. * Alikhanian A.I., Alikhanov A. I. Varitrons. Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, 21, pp. 1023–1044, 1951 (In Russian). * Alikhanian A.I., Avakian V.V., Mamidjanyan E.A., et al. A facility for identification of the hadrons with energy 300 GeV with transition radiation detector, Proceedings of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Physics series, 38, pp. 1993–1995, 1974 (In Russian).


Awards

*
Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...
* Honored Scientist of the
Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...
*
Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...
* Stalin Prize * Prize of the Council of Ministers of the USSR


Sources

*A. Alikhanian: Essays, Recollections, Documents (mainly in Russian), edited by G. Merzon, Moscow, 2000, 335p.Артем Алиханян. Очерки, воспоминания, документы
/ref> *Artem Alikhanian in the memories of friends and colleagues, Russian Acad. of Sciences; ed. by E. Mamijanyan, G. Merzon, Moscow, 2008, 342 p.
Artem Alikhanian, YerPHI CRD


References


External links


Biography, Who's Who in Russia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alikhanian, Artem 1908 births 1978 deaths Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Saint Petersburg State University alumni Academic staff of Yerevan State University People from Elizavetpol Governorate Scientists from Ganja, Azerbaijan Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Armenian nuclear physicists Armenian scientists Armenian physicists Russian physicists Russian nuclear physicists Soviet nuclear physicists Soviet physicists Armenian inventors Soviet inventors Soviet Armenians