Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov (; born November 10, 1935) is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

(and former

Soviet 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 ...

) theoretical astrophysicist and cosmologist. Novikov put forward the idea of

white hole In general relativity, a white hole is a hypothetical region of spacetime and Gravitational singularity, singularity that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy, matter, light and information can escape from it. In this sense, it is ...

s in 1964. He also formulated the

Novikov self-consistency principle The Novikov self-consistency principle, also known as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture and Larry Niven's law of conservation of history, is a principle developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s. Novikov inte ...

in the mid-1980s, a contribution to the theory of

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

. Novikov moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he worked and taught at the

Niels Bohr Institute The Niels Bohr Institute () is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics, and biophysics. Overview The institute was foun ...

. He returned to Russia in 2001.

Biography

Novikov gained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in astrophysics in 1965 and the Russian

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

degree in astrophysics in 1970. From 1974 to 1990 he was head of the Department of Relativistic Astrophysics at the Russian Space Research Institute in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Before 1991 he was head of the Department of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow and has been a professor at

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

. Since 1994 he has been director of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center (TAC) of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He is currently also a professor of

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

at the Observatory of the University of Copenhagen, where he has been since 1991. Since 1998 he has been a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

. He is awarded the First John Archibald Wheeler Prize (2020), together with physicist Kip Thorne (Caltech) and Oxford University professor

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

. This award is presented for his contribution to the development of the

general theory of relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physi ...

and the physics of

black holes A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

. The prize is awarded by the President of the

Italian Physical Society The Italian Physical Society () is a non-profit organization whose aim is to promote, encourage, protect the study and the progress of physics in Italy and in the world. It was founded in 1897. It is associated with the journal series ''Nuovo Cime ...

at the official awards ceremony in Rome on May 22, 2020.

References

General references

* *

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov on 21 August 1979, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- interview conducted with Spencer R. Weart in Montreal, Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Novikov, Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov, Igor Dmitrievich Novikov, Igor Dmitrievich Novikov, Igor D. Novikov, Igor D. Novikov, Igor Dmitrievich Novikov, Igor D. Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian scientists

Biography

See also

References

General references

External links