Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev (; 24 February 1866 – 1 March 1912) was a Russian physicist. His name was also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as Peter Lebedew and Peter Lebedev. Lebedev was the creator of the first scientific school in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Career

Lebedev made his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

under the supervision of

August Kundt August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt (; 18 November 1839 – 21 May 1894) was a German physicist known for developing Kundt's tube, an appartus used to measure the speed of sound in gases and solids. Early life Kundt was born in Schwerin, Meckle ...

in 1887–1891. In 1891, he started working in

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 ...

in the group of Alexander Stoletov. There he made his famous experimental studies of electromagnetic waves. Along with Indian physicist

Jagadish Chandra Bose Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (; ; 30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a polymath with interests in biology, physics and writing science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contributions ...

he was one of the first to investigate

millimeter wave Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the International Telecommunication Union designation for the band of radio frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum from 30 to 300 gigahertz (GHz). It is in the microwave part of the radio spectrum, between t ...

s, generating 50 GHz (6 mm) microwaves beginning in 1895 with a spark oscillator made of two platinum cylinders 1.5 cm long and 0.5 diameter immersed in

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

at the focus of a parabolic reflector, and detecting the waves with an iron- constantan

thermocouple A thermocouple, also known as a "thermoelectrical thermometer", is an electrical device consisting of two dissimilar electrical conductors forming an electrical junction. A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the ...

detector.A. A. Kostenko, A. I. Nosich, P. F. Goldsmith, "Historical background and development of Soviet quasioptics at near-millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths" in With this apparatus, he extended the work of

Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. Biography Heinri ...

to higher frequencies, duplicating classical

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

experiments using quasioptical components such as lenses,

prism PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

s and quarter-wave plates made of

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

and wire

diffraction grating In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical grating with a periodic structure that diffraction, diffracts light, or another type of electromagnetic radiation, into several beams traveling in different directions (i.e., different diffractio ...

s to demonstrate

refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one transmission medium, medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commo ...

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

, double refraction,

birefringence Birefringence, also called double refraction, is the optical property of a material having a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. These optically anisotropic materials are described as birefrin ...

and polarization of millimeter waves. He was the first to measure the pressure of light on a solid body in 1899. The discovery was announced at the International Congress of Physics during Paris Exposition Universelle, and became the first quantitative confirmation of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. An English translation of the paper as well as a historical review is in. In 1909, he reported that the pressure of light on gas is in agreement with predictions based on Maxwell's theory.

Later life

In 1901, he became a professor at

, however, he quit the University in 1911, protesting against the politics of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. In the same year, he received an invitation to become a professor in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, which he rejected. He died the next year of a hereditary heart condition.

Legacy

The Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow and the lunar crater Lebedev are named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebedev, Pyotr 1866 births 1912 deaths Physicists from the Russian Empire Academic staff of Moscow State University Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology alumni Russian scientists

Career

Later life

Legacy

See also

References