Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Lev landau

Lev Landau (years of life - 1908-1968) - the great Soviet physicist, a native of Baku. He owns a lot of interesting research and discoveries. Can you answer the question, why did Lev Landau receive the Nobel Prize? In this article we will talk about his achievements and the main facts of his biography.

Origin of Lev Landau

One can talk for a long time about such a scientist as Lev Landau. Years of life, occupation and achievements of this physicist - all this will surely interest readers. Let's start from the very beginning - with the origin of the future scientist.

He was born in the family of Lyubov and David Landau. His father was a well-known petroleum engineer. He worked in the oil fields. As for her mother, she was a doctor by profession. It is known that this woman carried out physiological research. Apparently, Lev Landau was a native of his older sister, by the way, became a chemical engineer.

years of education

Lev Davidovich went to high school, which he brilliantly graduated at the age of 13. His parents considered that their son was still too young to study in a higher educational institution. Therefore, they decided to send him to the Baku Economic College for one year. Then, in 1922, he was admitted to Baku University. Here Lev Landau studied chemistry and physics. Two years later, Lev Davidovich transferred to Leningrad University, to the Faculty of Physics.

First scientific work, postgraduate studies

At the age of nineteen, Landau had already become the author of four scientific papers that were published. In one of these works, the so-called density matrix was used for the first time. This term is widely used today. It describes quantum energy states. Landau graduated from the university in 1927. Then he entered graduate school, choosing the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. In this educational institution, he worked on quantum electrodynamics and the magnetic theory of the electron.

Business trip

In the period from 1929 to 1931 Lev Landau was on a scientific mission. Years of life, occupation and achievements of this scientist are associated with close cooperation with foreign colleagues. So, during a business trip, he visited Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, England and Denmark. During these years, he met and became acquainted with the founders of quantum mechanics, which was then just emerging. Among the scientists Landau met were Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr. To the latter, Lev Davidovich retained friendly feelings for the rest of his life. This scientist had a particularly strong influence on Landau.

Lev Davidovich, while abroad, carried out important studies of free electrons (their magnetic properties). In addition, together with Peierls, he also conducted research on relativistic quantum mechanics. Thanks to these works, Lev Landau, who was interested in foreign colleagues, began to be considered one of the leading theoretical physicists. The scientist learned how to deal with highly complex theoretical systems. It should be noted that later this skill was very useful to him when Landau began to conduct research on low-temperature physics.

Moving to Kharkov

Lev Davidovich returned to Leningrad in 1931. However, he soon decided to move to Kharkov, which at that time was the capital of Ukraine. Here the scientist worked in Ukrainian was the head of his theoretical department. At the same time, Lev Davidovich was the head of the departments of theoretical physics at Kharkov University and the Kharkov Engineering and Mechanical Institute. In 1934, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR awarded him the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. For this, Landau did not even need to defend a dissertation. The title of professor was awarded the following year to such a scientist as Lev Landau.

His occupation covered more and more new areas of science. Landau in Kharkov published works on such topics as the dispersion of sound, the origin of stellar energy, light scattering, energy transfer that occurs during collisions, superconductivity, magnetic properties various materials and others. Thanks to this, he became known as a theoretician with unusually versatile scientific interests.

A distinctive feature of Landau's work

Subsequently, when plasma physics appeared, Landau's work on particles interacting electrically proved to be very useful. Having borrowed some concepts from thermodynamics, the scientist expressed a number of innovative ideas regarding low-temperature systems. It must be said that all Landau's works are characterized by one important feature - the virtuoso use of the mathematical apparatus in the search for solutions to complex problems. Lev Landau made a significant contribution to quantum theory, as well as to the study of the interaction and nature of elementary particles.

Lev Landau School

The scope of his research is truly wide. They cover almost all major areas of theoretical physics. Thanks to such a breadth of his interests, the scientist attracted many talented young scientists and gifted students to Kharkov. Among them was Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits, who became Lev Davidovich's collaborator and his closest friend. The school that grew up around Lev Landau turned Kharkov into one of the leading centers of theoretical physics in the USSR.

The scientist was convinced that a theoretical physicist should be thoroughly versed in all areas of this science. To this end, Lev Davidovich developed a very strict training program. He called this program "the theoretical minimum". Applicants who wanted to participate in the seminar, led by him, had to meet very high standards. Suffice it to say that for 30 years, despite the many applicants, only 40 people passed the exams according to the "theorimum". However, those who succeeded, Lev Davidovich generously devoted his attention and time. In addition, they were given complete freedom of choice when choosing a research topic.

Creation of a theoretical physics course

Landau Lev Davidovich maintained friendly relations with his employees and students. They affectionately called the scientist Dau. To help them in 1935, Lev Davidovich created a detailed course in theoretical physics. It was published by Landau jointly with E. M. Lifshitz and was a series of textbooks. Their content was updated and revised by the authors over the next 20 years. These books have gained immense popularity. They have been translated into many languages ​​of the world. Currently, these textbooks are rightfully considered classics. In 1962, Landau and Lifshitz received the Lenin Prize for the creation of this course.

Working with Kapitsa

Lev Davidovich in 1937 responded to the invitation of Peter Kapitsa (his photo is presented below) and became the head of the department of theoretical physics at the Moscow Institute of Physical Problems, newly created at that time. However, the next year the scientist was arrested. The false accusation was that he was spying for Germany. Only thanks to the intervention of Kapitsa, who personally applied to the Kremlin, Lev Landau was released.

When Landau moved from Kharkov to Moscow, Kapitsa was just experimenting with liquid helium. If the temperature drops below 4.2 K (absolute temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin and is measured from -273.18 ° C, that is, from absolute zero), gaseous helium becomes a liquid. In this state, it is called helium-1. If the temperature is lowered to 2.17 K, it turns into a liquid called helium-2. It has a very interesting ability to easily flow through the smallest holes. It seems as if he has no viscosity at all. The substance rises up the wall of the vessel, as if gravity does not act on it. In addition, its thermal conductivity exceeds the thermal conductivity of copper hundreds of times. Kapitsa decided to call helium-2 a superfluid liquid. However, when checking, it turned out that its viscosity is not zero.

Scientists have suggested that such unusual behavior is due to effects that do not belong to the field of classical physics, but to quantum theory. These effects appear only at low temperatures. Usually they make themselves felt in solids, since under these conditions most substances freeze. Helium is an exception. This substance remains liquid down to absolute zero unless it is subjected to high pressure. Laszlo Tissa suggested in 1938 that liquid helium is actually a mixture of two forms: helium-2 (superfluid liquid) and helium-1 (normal liquid). When the temperature drops to almost absolute zero, the former becomes the dominant component. This hypothesis explains the appearance of different viscosities under different conditions.

How Landau explained the phenomenon of superfluidity

Lev Landau, whose brief biography describes only his main achievements, was able to explain the phenomenon of superfluidity using a completely new mathematical apparatus. Other scientists relied on quantum mechanics, which they used to analyze the behavior of individual atoms. Landau, on the other hand, considered the quantum states of a liquid practically in the same way as if it were a solid. He hypothesized that there are two components of excitation, or movement. The first of these are phonons, which describe the normal rectilinear propagation of sound waves at low values ​​of energy and momentum. The second is the rotons, which describe rotational motion. The latter is a more complex manifestation of excitations that occurs at higher values ​​of energy and momentum. The scientist noted that the observed phenomena can be explained by the contributions of rotons and phonons and their interaction.

Landau argued that it can be considered as a "normal" component, which is immersed in a superfluid "background". How can one explain the fact that liquid helium flows out through a narrow gap? The scientist noted that only the superfluid component flows in this case. And the rotons and phonons collide with the walls holding them.

Significance of Landau's theory

Landau's theory, as well as its further improvements, played a very important role in science. They not only explained the observed phenomena, but also predicted some others. One example is the propagation of two waves with different properties and are called the first and second sound. The first sound is ordinary sound waves, while the second is a temperature wave. Thanks to the theory created by Landau, scientists were able to make significant progress in understanding the nature of superconductivity.

Years of the Second World War and the post-war period

Lev Davidovich during the Second World War was engaged in the study of explosions and combustion. In particular, he was interested in shock waves. After May 1945 and until 1962, the scientist worked on various tasks. In particular, he investigated the rare isotope of helium, which has an atomic mass of 3 (usually its mass is 4). Lev Davidovich predicted the existence of a new type of wave propagation for this isotope. "Zero sound" - that's what Lev Davidovich Landau called it. His biography is marked, in addition, by participation in the creation of the atomic bomb in the USSR.

Car accident, Nobel Prize and the last years of life

At the age of 53, he was in a car accident, as a result of which he was seriously injured. Many doctors from the USSR, France, Canada, Czechoslovakia fought for the life of a scientist. He was unconscious for 6 weeks. For three months after the car accident, Lev Landau did not even recognize his relatives. The Nobel Prize was awarded to him in 1962. However, due to health reasons, he was unable to travel to Stockholm to receive it. In the photo below you can see L. Landau with his wife in the hospital.

The prize was awarded to a scientist in Moscow. After that, Lev Davidovich lived for another 6 years, but he could not return to research. Lev Landau died in Moscow as a result of complications from his injuries.

Landau family

In 1937, the scientist married Concordia Drobantseva, a process engineer in the food industry. This woman was from Kharkov. The years of her life are 1908-1984. A son was born in the family, who later became an experimental physicist and worked at the Institute of Physical Problems. The photo below shows L. Landau with his son.

This is all that can be said about such a scientist as Lev Landau. His biography, of course, includes only the basic facts. The theories he created are quite complex for the unprepared reader. Therefore, the article only briefly talks about what Lev Landau became famous for. The biography and achievements of this scientist are still of great interest all over the world.

Personal life and the theory of happiness

That's what Landau said

Landau School. theoretical minimum

In art

Main works

(often called Dow; January 9 (22), 1908, Baku - April 1, 1968, Moscow) - an outstanding Soviet theoretical physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (elected in 1946). Nobel Prize winner, Max Planck medal, Lenin Prize and three Stalin Prizes, Hero of Socialist Labor (1954). Member of the Royal Society of London and the academies of sciences of Denmark, the Netherlands, the USA (US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), the French Physical Society and the London Physical Society.

Biography

Born in the family of oil engineer David Lvovich Landau and his wife Lyubov Veniaminovna in Baku on January 22, 1908. Since 1916, he studied at the Baku Jewish Gymnasium, where his mother, Lyubov Veniaminovna Landau (nee Garkavi), was a natural science teacher. Unusually gifted in mathematics, Landau jokingly said about himself: “I learned to integrate at the age of 13, but I always knew how to differentiate.” At the age of fourteen he entered Baku University, where he studied simultaneously at two faculties: physics and mathematics and chemistry. For special successes he was transferred to Leningrad University. After graduating from the Physics Department of the Leningrad University in 1927, Landau became a graduate student, and later an employee of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology, in 1926-1927 he published the first works on theoretical physics.

In 1929 he was on a scientific mission to continue his education in Germany, in Denmark with Niels Bohr, in England and Switzerland. There he worked with leading theoretical physicists, including Niels Bohr, whom he considered his only teacher ever since.

In 1932 he headed the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkov. Since 1937 at the Institute of Physical Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Academician Landau is considered a legendary figure in the history of Russian and world science. Quantum mechanics, solid state physics, magnetism, low temperature physics, cosmic ray physics, hydrodynamics, quantum field theory, atomic nucleus and elementary particle physics, plasma physics - this is not a complete list of areas in different time attracted Landau's attention. It was said about him that in "the huge building of physics of the 20th century there were no locked doors for him."

From 1932 to 1937 he worked at the UFTI; after his dismissal from Kharkov University and the subsequent strike of physicists, Landau in February 1937 accepted the invitation of Pyotr Kapitsa to take the position of head of the theoretical department of the newly built Institute for Physical Problems (IFP) and moved to Moscow. After Landau's departure, the authorities of the regional NKVD began to destroy the UPTI, foreign specialists A. Weisberg, F. Houtermans were arrested, in August-September 1937 the physicists L. V. Rozenkevich (Landau's co-author), L. V. Shubnikov, V. S. Gorsky (the so-called "UFTI case").

In April 1938, Landau in Moscow edits a leaflet written by M. A. Korets calling for the overthrow of the Stalinist regime, in which Stalin is called a fascist dictator. The text of the leaflet was handed over to the anti-Stalinist group of IFLI students for distribution by mail before the May Day holidays. This intention was revealed by the state security organs of the USSR, and Landau, Korets and Yu. B. Rumer were arrested on the morning of April 28 for anti-Soviet agitation. On May 3, 1938, Landau was excluded from the list of employees of the IFP. Landau spent a year in prison and was released thanks to a letter in defense of Niels Bohr and the intervention of Kapitsa, who took Landau "on bail". Kapitsa wrote: “I ask you to release the arrested professor of physics Lev Davidovich Landau from custody under my personal guarantee. I vouch for the NKVD that Landau will not conduct any counter-revolutionary activities in my institute, and I will take all measures in my power to ensure that he does not conduct any counter-revolutionary work outside the institute. In the event that I notice any statements from Landau aimed at harming the Soviet government, I will immediately inform the NKVD authorities about this. Two days later, Landau was reinstated on the IFP staff list. After his release and until his death, Landau remained a member of the Institute for Physical Problems.

In 1955, he signed the "Letter of Three Hundred" (contained an assessment of the state of biology in the USSR by the mid-1950s and criticism of Lysenko and "Lysenkoism").

Death

January 7, 1962, on the way from Moscow to Dubna on the Dmitrovsky highway, Landau got into a car accident. As a result of numerous fractures, hemorrhages and head injuries, he was in a coma for 59 days. Physicists from all over the world took part in saving Landau's life. A round-the-clock duty was organized in the hospital. The missing medicines were delivered by aircraft from Europe and the United States. As a result of these measures, Landau's life was saved, despite very serious injuries.

After the accident, Landau practically ceased to engage in scientific activities. However, according to his wife and son, Landau gradually returned to his normal state and in 1968 was close to resuming his studies in physics.

Landau died a few days after the operation to eliminate intestinal obstruction. Diagnosis - thrombosis of the mesenteric vessels. Death occurred as a result of blockage of the artery by a detached thrombus. Landau's wife, in her memoirs, expressed doubts about the competence of some of the doctors who treated Landau, especially doctors from special clinics for the treatment of the USSR leadership.

Personal life and the theory of happiness

As a child, fascinated by science, Landau made a vow to himself never "to smoke, drink or marry." He also believed that marriage is a cooperative that has nothing to do with love. However, he met a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry, Concordia (Kora) Drobantseva, who divorced her first husband. She swore that she would not be jealous of other women, and from 1934 they lived together in an actual marriage. Landau believed that lies and betrayal destroy marriage most of all, and therefore they concluded “ marriage non-aggression pact"(as planned by Dow), which gave relative freedom to both spouses in the novels on the side. The official marriage was concluded between them on July 5, 1946, a few days before the birth of their son Igor. Igor Lvovich Landau graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University, an experimental physicist in the field of low temperature physics (died on May 14, 2011, was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery).

Landau's only non-physical theory was the theory of happiness. He believed that every person should and even must be happy. To do this, he deduced a simple formula that contained three parameters: work, love and communication with people.

That's what Landau said

In addition to science, Landau is known as a joker. His contribution to scientific humor is quite large. Possessing a subtle, sharp mind and excellent eloquence, Landau encouraged humor in every possible way in his colleagues. He coined the term so said Landau, and also became the hero of various humorous stories. Characteristically, jokes are not necessarily related to physics and mathematics.

Landau had her own classification of women. According to Landau, girls are divided into beautiful, pretty and interesting.

Brief chronology of life and work

• 1916-1920 - studying at the gymnasium
• 1920-1922 - studies at the Baku Economic College.
• 1922-1924 - studies at the Azerbaijan State University.
• 1924 - transfer to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Leningrad State University.
• 1926 - admission to the supernumerary graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. Participation in the work of the Fifth Congress of Russian Physicists in Moscow (December 15-20). Publication of Landau's first scientific work "On the theory of spectra of diatomic molecules".
• 1927 - graduated from the university (January 20) and entered the graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. In work "The problem of braking by radiation" for the first time introduces a new concept into quantum mechanics to describe the state of systems - the density matrix.
• 1929 - a year and a half scientific trip to continue education in Berlin, Göttingen, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Zurich. Publication of a work on diamagnetism, which put him on a par with the world's leading physicists.
• March 1931 - return to his homeland and work in Leningrad.
• August 1932 - transfer to Kharkov as head of the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UFTI).
• 1933 - appointment as head of the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering (now Polytechnic) Institute. Reading a course of lectures at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
• 1934 - L. D. Landau was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a dissertation. Conference on Theoretical Physics in Kharkov. Trip to Bohr's seminar in Copenhagen (May 1-22). Creation of a theoretical minimum - a special program for training young physicists.
• 1935 - reading a course in physics at Kharkov State University, head of the department of general physics of Kharkov State University. Assignment of the title of professor.
• 1936-1937 - creation of the theory of phase transitions of the second kind and the theory of the intermediate state of superconductors.
• 1937 - transfer to work at the Institute of Physical Problems in Moscow (February 8). Appointment as head of the theoretical department of the IFP.
• April 27, 1938 - arrest.
• April 29, 1939 - release from prison thanks to the intervention of P. L. Kapitsa.
• 1940-1941 - creation of the theory of superfluidity of liquid helium.
• 1941 - creation of the theory of quantum fluid.
• 1943 - awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
• 1945 - awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
• November 30, 1946 - elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Awarding the Stalin Prize.
• 1946 - creation of the theory of electron plasma oscillations ("Landau damping").
• 1948 - publication of the "Course of lectures on general physics".
• 1949 - Awarded the Stalin Prize, awarded the Order of Lenin.
• 1950 - construction of the theory of superconductivity (together with V. L. Ginzburg).
• 1951 - Elected a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences.
• 1953 - the award of the Stalin Prize.
• 1954 - Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Publication (together with A. A. Abrikosov, I. M. Khalatnikov) of a fundamental work "Fundamentals of Electrodynamics".
• 1955 - edition "Lectures on the theory of the atomic nucleus"(together with Ya. A. Smorodinsky).
• 1956 - Elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.
• 1957 - creation of the theory of the Fermi liquid.
• 1959 - L. D. Landau proposes the principle of combined parity.
• 1960 - elected a member of the British Physical Society, the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences and Arts. Fritz London Award. Rewarding with the Max Planck medal (Germany).
• 1962 - a car accident on the way to Dubna (January 7). Lenin Prize for a cycle of books on theoretical physics (together with E. M. Lifshitz) (April). Nobel Prize in Physics "for his pioneering work in the theory of condensed matter, especially liquid helium". Awarded 1 November 1962. The Nobel Prize medal, diploma and check were presented to Landau on December 10 (for the first time in the history of the Nobel Prizes, the awarding took place in a hospital). Awarded the Order of Lenin
• April 1, 1968 - died a few days after the operation.

Landau School. theoretical minimum

Landau created a numerous outstanding school of theoretical physicists. Landau's students were predominantly considered physicists who were able to pass Lev Davidovich (and later his students) 9 theoretical exams, the so-called Landau's theoretical minimum. Mathematics was taken first, and then physics exams:

• two math exams
• Mechanics
• field theory
• quantum mechanics
• statistical physics
• continuum mechanics
• electrodynamics of continuous media
• quantum electrodynamics

Landau demanded from his students knowledge of the foundations of all branches of theoretical physics.

After the war, it was best to use Landau and Lifshitz's theoretical physics course to prepare for exams, but the first students took exams on Landau's lectures or on handwritten notes. The first of those who passed the Landau theoretical minimum were:

• Alexander Solomonovich Kompaneets (1933)
• Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits (1934)
• Alexander Ilyich Akhiezer (1935)
• Isaac Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk (1935)
• Leonid Moiseevich Pyatigorsky (passed the theoretical minimum fifth, but not listed in the list provided by Landau)
• Laszlo Tissa (1935)
• Veniamin Grigorievich Levich

Other students:

• Vladimir Borisovich Berestetsky
• Yakov Abramovich Smorodinsky
• Isaac Markovich Khalatnikov
• Alexey Alekseevich Abrikosov
• Arkady Beinusovich Migdal
• Ilya Mikhailovich Lifshitz
• Karen Ter-Martirosyan
• Boris Lazarevich Ioffe
• Yuri Moiseevich Kagan
• Semyon Solomonovich Gershtein
• Lev Petrovich Gorkov
• Igor Ehielevich Dzyaloshinskiy
• Leonid Alexandrovich Maksimov
• Lev Petrovich Pitaevsky
• Roald Zinnurovich Sagdeev
• Alexander Fedorovich Andreev

Memory

• The Institute for Theoretical Physics is named after Landau.
• In 1972, the Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh discovered the asteroid 2142, which was named after him in honor of Lev Davidovich. Also on the Moon is the Landau crater, named after the scientist.
• Landauit (English) landauite) is a mineral from the krichtonite group, discovered in 1966, named after Landau.
• The L. D. Landau Gold Medal has been awarded since 1998 by the Department of Nuclear Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• In 2008, filming began on the serial feature film"Dau" (in Kharkov, Moscow and St. Petersburg). The film is expected to be completed by early 2010.
• In 2008, postage stamps of Russia and Azerbaijan were issued in honor of Landau.
• In 2008, a two hryvnia commemorative coin dedicated to Lev Landau was issued in Ukraine.

In art

• In 2008, the Ritm TV television company filmed the film My Husband is a Genius, which was criticized by people who knew Landau. In particular, academician V. L. Ginzburg called the film "simply disgusting, deceitful."
• Dow (film) (2010)

Main works

• On the theory of spectra of diatomic molecules // Ztshr. Phys. 1926. Bd. 40. S. 621.
• The damping problem in wave mechanics // Ztshr. Phys. 1927. Bd. 45. S. 430.
• Quantum electrodynamics in configuration space // Ztshr. Phys. 1930. Bd. 62. S. 188. (Together with R. Peierls)
• Diamagnetism of metals // Ztshr. Phys. 1930. Bd. 64. S. 629.
• Extension of the uncertainty principle to relativistic quantum theory // Ztshr. Phys. 1931. Bd. 69. S. 56. (Together with R. Peierls).
• On the theory of energy transfer in collisions. I // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1932. Bd. 1. S. 88.
• On the theory of energy transfer in collisions. II // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1932. Bd. 2. S. 46.
• On the theory of stars // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1932. Bd. 1. S. 285.
• On the motion of electrons in a crystal lattice// Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 3. S. 664.
• The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Universe // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 4. S. 114. (Together with M. P. Bronshtein).
• Possible explanation of the dependence of the susceptibility on the field at low temperatures // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 4. S. 675.
• Internal temperature of stars // Nature. 1933. V. 132. P. 567. (Together with G. A. Gamov)
• Structure of an unshifted scattering line, Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 5. S. 172. (Together with G. Plachen.)
• On the theory of slowing down of fast electrons by radiation // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 5. S. 761; ZhETF. 1935. V. 5. S. 255.
• On the formation of electrons and positrons in the collision of two particles // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 6. S. 244. (Together with E. M. Lifshitz)
• On the theory of heat capacity anomalies // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 113.
• On the theory of dispersion of the magnetic permeability of ferromagnetic bodies // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 153. (Together with E. M. Lifshitz)
• On relativistic corrections to the Schrödinger equation in the many-body problem // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 487.
• On the theory of accommodation coefficient // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 489.
• On the theory of photoelectromotive force in semiconductors // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 9. S. 477. (Together with E. M. Lifshitz)
• On the theory of sound dispersion // Phys. Ztshr. SOW. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 34. (With Edward Teller)
• On the theory of monomolecular reactions // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 67.
• Kinetic equation in the case of Coulomb interaction // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 203; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 154.
• On the properties of metals at very low temperatures // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 379; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 649. (Together with I. Ya. Pomeranchuk)
• Scattering of light by light // Nature. 1936. V. 138. R. 206. (Together with A. I. Akhiezer and I. Ya. Pomeranchuk)
• On the sources of stellar energy // DAN SSSR. 1937. T. 17. S. 301; Nature. 1938. V. 141. R. 333.
• On the absorption of sound in solids // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 18. (Together with Yu. B. Rumer)
• On the theory of phase transitions. I // JETP. 1937. T. 7. S. 19; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 7. S. 19.
• On the theory of phase transitions. II // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 627; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 545.
• On the theory of superconductivity // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 371; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 7. S. 371.
• On the statistical theory of nuclei // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 819; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 556.
• Scattering of X-rays by crystals near the Curie point // ZhETF. 1937. Vol. 7. S. 1232; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 12. S. 123.
• Scattering of x-rays by crystals with variable structure // ZhETF. 1937. Vol. 7. S. 1227; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 12. S. 579.
• Formation of showers by heavy particles // Nature. 1937. V. 140. P. 682. (Together with Yu. B. Rumer)
• Stability of neon and carbon with respect to a-decay // Phys. Rev. 1937. V. 52. P. 1251.
• Cascade theory of electron showers, Proc. Roy. soc. 1938. V. A166. P. 213. (Together with Yu. B. Rumer)
• On the de Haas-van Alphen effect, Proc. Roy. soc. 1939. V. A170. P. 363. Appendix to the article by D. Shen-Schenberg.
• On the polarization of electrons during scattering // DAN SSSR. 1940. T. 26. S. 436; Phys. Rev. 1940. V. 57. P. 548.
• On the "radius" of elementary particles // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 718; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 2. P. 485.
• On the scattering of mesotrons by "nuclear forces" // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 721; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 2. P. 483.
• Angular distribution of particles in showers // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 1007; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 3. P. 237.
• On the theory of secondary showers// ZhETF. 1941. T. 11. S. 32; J Phys. USSR. 1941. V. 4. P. 375.
• On the hydrodynamics of helium-II // ZhETF. 1944. T. 14. S. 112
• Theory of viscosity of helium-II // JETF. 1949. T. 19. S. 637
• On light scattering by mesotrons JETP 11, 35 (1941); J Phys. USSR 4, 455 (1941) (Together with Ya. A. Smorodinsky)
• Theory of superfluidity of helium II JETP 11, 592 (1941); J Phys. USSR 5, 71 (1941)
• Theory of stability of strongly charged lyophobic sols and adhesion of strongly charged particles in electrolyte solutions JETP 11, 802 (1941); 15, 663 (1945); Acta phys.-chim. USSR 14, 633 (1941) (Together with B.V. Deryagin)
• Entrainment of liquid by moving plate Acta phys.-chim. USSR 17, 42 (1942) (Together with V.G. Levich)
• On the Theory of the Intermediate State of Superconductors ZhETF 13, 377 (1943); J Phys. USSR 7, 99 (1943).
• On the relationship between liquid and gaseous states in metals Acta phys.-chim. USSR 18, 194 (1943) (Together with Ya. B. Zel'dovich)
• On a new exact solution of the Navier-Stokes equations DAN SSSR 43, 299 (1944)
• On the problem of turbulence DAN SSSR 44, 339 (1944)
• On the hydrodynamics of helium II. ZhETF 14, 112 (1944); J Phys. USSR 8, 1 (1944)
• On the theory of slow combustion. ZhETF 14, 240 (1944); Acta phys.-chim. USSR 19, 77 (1944)
• Scattering of protons by protons JETP 14, 269 (1944); J Phys. USSR 8, 154 (1944) (Together with Ya. A. Smorodinsky)
• On energy losses by fast particles for ionization. J Phys. USSR 8, 201 (1944)
• On the study of the detonation of condensed explosives DAN SSSR 46, 399 (1945) (Together with K.P. Stanyukovich)
• Determination of the outflow rate of detonation products of some gas mixtures. DAN SSSR 47, 205 (1945) (Together with K.P. Stanyukovich)
• Determination of the outflow velocity of detonation products of condensed explosives DAN SSSR 47, 273 (1945) (Together with K.P. Stanyukovich)
• On shock waves at long distances from their place of origin Prikl. Mathematics and Mechanics 9, 286 (1945); J Phys. USSR 9, 496 (1945)
• On Oscillations of an Electron Plasma JETP 16, 574 (1946); J Phys. USSR 10, 27 (1946)
• On the Thermodynamics of Photoluminescence J. Phys. USSR 10, 503 (1946)
• On the theory of helium superfluidity II J. Phys. USSR 11, 91 (1946)
• On the motion of foreign particles in helium II DAN SSSR 59, 669 (1948) Together with I.Ya. Pomeranchuk
• On the moment of a system of two photons DAN SSSR 60, 207 (1948)
• On the theory of superfluidity DAN SSSR 61, 253 (1948); Phys. Rev. 75, 884 (1949)
• Polaron effective mass JETP 18, 419 (1948) (Together with S.I. Pekar)
• Deuteron splitting in collisions with heavy nuclei JETP 18, 750 (1948) (Together with E.M. Lifshitz)
• Theory of Helium Viscosity II. 1. Collisions of elementary excitations in helium II JETP 19, 637 (1949) (With I.M. Khalatnikov)
• Theory of Helium Viscosity II. 2. Calculation of the viscosity coefficient JETP 19, 709 (1949) With (I.M. Khalatnikov)
• On the interaction between an electron and a positron JETP 19, 673 (1949) (Together with V.B. Berestetskii)
• On the equilibrium form of crystals // Collection dedicated to the seventieth anniversary of Academician A.F. Ioffe M.; Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 44 (1950)
• On the Theory of Superconductivity JETP 20, 1064 (1950) (Together with V.L. Ginzburg)
• On the multiple formation of particles in collisions of fast particles Izv. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Ser. physical 17.51 ​​(1953)
• Limits of applicability of the theory of electron bremsstrahlung and pair formation at high energies DAN SSSR 92, 535 (1953)
• Electron-avalanche processes at superhigh energies Dokl.
• Emission of gamma-quanta in collisions of fast pi-mesons with nucleons JETP 24, 505 (1953) Together with I.Ya. Pomeranchuk
• On the Elimination of Infinities in Quantum Electrodynamics Dokl.
• Asymptotic expression for the Green's function of an electron in quantum electrodynamics Dokl.
• Asymptotic expression for the Green's function of a photon in quantum electrodynamics Dokl.
• Electron mass in quantum electrodynamics DAN SSSR 96, 261 (1954) (With A.A. Abrikosov and I.M. Khalatnikov)
• On anomalous sound absorption near points of a second-order phase transition DAN SSSR 96, 469 (1954) (With I.M. Khalatnikov)
• Investigation of flow features using the Euler-Tricomi equation DAN SSSR 96, 725 (1954) (Together with E.M. Lifshitz)
• On quantum field theory. In the collection "Niels Bohr and the development of physics" London, 1955; M.; Foreign Publishing House lit., 1958
• On point interaction in quantum electrodynamics DAN SSSR 102, 489 (1955) (Together with I. Ya. Pomeranchuk)
• Gradient transformations of the Green's functions of charged particles JETP 29, 89 (1955) (Together with (I.M. Khalatnikov)
• Hydrodynamic Theory of Multiple Formation of Particles UFN 56, 309 (1955) (Together with S. Z. Belen'kii)
• On Quantum Field Theory Nuovo Cimento. Suppl. 3, 80 (1956) (Together with A.A. Abrikosov and I.M. Khalatnikov)
• Theory of a Fermi liquid JETP 30, 1058 (1956)
• Vibrations of a Fermi liquid JETP 32, 59 (1957)
• Conservation laws for weak interactions JETP 32, 405 (1957)
• On one possibility for the polarization properties of neutrinos JETP 32, 407 (1957)
• On hydrodynamic fluctuations (Together with E.M. Lifshitz) JETP 32, 618 (1957)
• Properties of the Green's function of particles in statistics JETP 34, 262 (1958)
• On the Theory of a Fermi Liquid JETP 35, 97 (1958)
• On the possibility of formulating the theory of strongly interacting fermions Phys. Rev. 111, 321 (1958)
• Numerical methods for integrating partial differential equations by the grid method Tr. III All-Union. mat. Congress (Moscow, June-July 1956) M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR 3, 92 (1958) (Together with N.N. Meiman and I.M. Khalatnikov)
• On Analytic Properties of Vertex Parts in Quantum Field Theory JETP 37, 62 (1959)
• Small binding energies in quantum field theory JETP 39, 1856 (1960)
• On the fundamental problems of Theoretical physics in the 20th century: A memorial volume to W.Pauli N.Y.; L.: Interscience (1960)
• Physics for everyone // M. Mir. 1979. (Together with A.I. Kitaygorodsky.)

LANDAU LEV DAVIDOVICH

(1908 - 1968)

Lev Landau was an absolutely amazing person. How often his biographers say that he seemed to have descended from another planet! It's not just the amazing talent of the scientist, Dau (as his friends called him) generally treated life, people like no one else around. First of all, very sincere. His truth shocked his family and colleagues. He did not flaunt originality - he was. Philistinism, generally accepted norms of behavior, careerism, selfishness - this is just a small list of antonyms for the name "Landau".

The originality of Lev Davidovich became clear in his very early childhood. Landau was a child prodigy (and remained so, at least until the tragic car accident in 1962). The scientist was born on January 22, 1908 in Baku. His father was a well-known oil engineer in the relevant circles, his mother, Lyubov Veniaminovna, worked as a doctor. (She not only practiced, but also engaged in medical science, published many special works.) Lev was the youngest child, Sophia was the eldest. Subsequently, the outstanding physicist spoke of his father as a “bore”. David Landau raised the boy at first in a purely humanitarian spirit. I sat him down at the piano at the age of five. But music turned out to be just the subject that Landau was not given at all. Lev Davidovich amazed his colleagues with his knowledge in the field of history and art, he was very fond of drama theater, but he did not understand music, including ballet and opera. Therefore, being small, Lyova avoided boring activities in every possible way - he liked reading and solving problems much more. It should not be surprising that already at the age of six, Landau, allegedly on the wall of a barn, was writing down some mathematical expressions - after all, seven years later he graduated from high school with honors ...

It was not easy to cope with little Landau, he was considered a difficult child, "a boy on the contrary." He categorically refused to be obedient, most of all he strove for freedom. At the age of ten, Leva declared that cutting his hair was an occupation unworthy of a man. The father tried to suggest to his son, but then the mother intervened. “David, Lyovushka is a kind and smart boy,” Lyubov Landau said, “not a crazy psychopath at all. Violence is not a method of education. He is only a very difficult child, I take care of his upbringing, and you take care of Sonechka.

At the age of 13, as already mentioned, Leo graduated from high school. Immediately, he was not allowed to enter the university, either by his parents, or stunned by such a young age of the professor's applicant. So Lev Davidovich spent a year at the Baku Economic College. But the following year (1922) Landau nevertheless entered the Azerbaijan State University. The selection committee could do nothing: the boy knew almost more than its members themselves. Young Landau studied at once at two faculties - physics and mathematics and chemistry. Two years after entering, Lev transferred to the Physics Department of Leningrad University - closer to the center of young Soviet physics under the leadership of Ioffe. In 1927 (at age 19) Landau graduated from the university and entered the graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. By this time, the "golden boy" had already published four scientific papers.

Naturally, the gifted physicist, like many of his young colleagues, was given the opportunity to do an internship abroad. Lev Davidovich quickly got used to Europe, since he knew German and French from childhood, and learned English at a quite decent level in a month of working with textbooks before the trip. (On his return to the Union, of course, he already spoke English quite calmly.) The business trip lasted from 1929 to 1931. Landau worked and studied in Germany, England, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The most significant were his meetings with the founders of quantum mechanics - the giants of physics of the XX century - Pauli, Heisenberg, Bohr. Landau always called the latter his teacher and spoke of him with exceptional respect. Abroad, Lev Davidovich conducted research in the field of free electrons and relativistic quantum mechanics.

In January 1930, at Pauli's in Zurich, Landau became interested in the quantum motion of electrons in a constant magnetic field. He solved this problem in the spring at Cambridge at Rutherford's, creating the theory of electronic diamagnetism of metals ("Landau's diamagnetism"). This work made the 22-year-old Landau one of the most famous theoretical physicists in the world.

Lev Landau was offered to stay in England, the USA or another country - he was waiting for an excellent salary, luxurious housing and other joys of life. But the Soviet physicist flatly refused, he wanted to "do first-class physics for world science and first-class physicists for the Soviet country." It must be said that the scientist, even in his youth, became interested in Marxism - he studied Capital, quoted Engels and Lenin from memory. Soviet ideals at that time, and even later - during the years of Stalinist repressions and all the numerous distortions in Soviet politics, ideology, etc. - Landau fully recognized and accepted. But he never became either a Komsomol member or a party member. He said that he forgot about meetings too often while working. In addition, accepting Marxism, Landau categorically did not want to accept the lies of specific statesmen and institutions, annoying propaganda, clichés and slogans, it was always important for him to maintain his opinion, and not to obey the majority. Returning to the question of working in the West, it should be noted that Lev Davidovich almost called the main reason for his unwillingness to work there the fact that religion has too much influence in the capitalist countries. Landau considered it incompatible with real science, especially natural science. “Of course, you can believe in God,” he told his foreign colleagues, “but what does physics have to do with it?”

In 1931, Lev Landau returned to Leningrad, and soon moved to Kharkov, where the giant of Soviet science, the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology, was being created. A lot is connected with the first capital of Soviet Ukraine both in the scientific biography and in the personal life of the outstanding Russian physicist.

The still quite young Landau took the post of head of the theoretical department of the UPTI. Almost simultaneously, he headed the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Institute and Kharkov University. Landau quickly became a central figure in Kharkov (and at that time, therefore, in Soviet) science. Theoretical physics was his main hobby. Lev Davidovich masterfully mastered the mathematical apparatus and possessed the widest physical erudition, which allowed him to quickly, clearly and transparently explain the most complex experiments, the most diverse phenomena. He was interested in almost everything in physics, so he was called "the last universal physicist." Surprisingly, Landau, as a rule, did not use either a slide rule or reference books for his calculations. Possessing a clear head and a unique memory, Landau could perform the most complex operations “in his mind”, and most importantly, he could immediately find the key to understanding certain processes, determine the right direction for solving important theoretical problems. Many colleagues compared his brain to a powerful logic machine - so great was the confidence that Landau could figure everything out, that his conclusions were correct.

In Kharkov, Landau publishes works on such diverse topics as the origin of stellar energy, sound dispersion, energy transfer in collisions, light scattering, magnetic properties of materials, superconductivity, phase transitions of substances from one form to another, and the movement of streams of electrically charged particles. In 1934, Lev Davidovich received a doctoral degree from the hands of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR without defending a dissertation (recall that he was 26 years old at that moment).

Teaching has always occupied a very important place in Landau's work. The scientist attached special importance to the training of personnel, having created his own school of physicists in the USSR. The beginning of this work was laid just in Kharkov. Landau was very dissatisfied with the level of knowledge of students of physical faculties, so he began to independently develop new requirements for young scientists. Lev Davidovich compiled a very severe training program - the "theoretical minimum". Those who managed to pass the "theoretical minimum" were allowed to participate in Landau's seminars. For thirty years of active pedagogical activity scientist "minimum" obeyed four dozen people. Almost all of them became academicians.

Other the most important thing Dau in the field of teaching became the famous multi-volume course of theoretical physics. Lev Davidovich wrote it together with another Kharkiv resident - Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz. Starting from 1935, the work continued for another twenty years, some volumes were published after the disaster of 1962 without Lev Davidovich. The authors received the Lenin Prize for their work in 1962. Now "Landafshitz" is used by hundreds of thousands of students not only in the post-Soviet countries, but throughout the rest of the world.

In Kharkov, Leo found not only an interesting job, but also love. She became one of the first Kharkov beauties - Konkordia Terentyevna Drobantseva, or simply Kora. By the time of her meeting with the young scientist, she already had a life full of various dramatic events behind her. Concordia fled from Kyiv, where she was pursued by an armed admirer, she was once married. Leo, by the age of 27, has never kissed a woman. He met his future wife at the graduation party of chemists at Kharkov University. Cora also graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry, the next day she went to work as a technologist in a chocolate shop. In the evenings, Landau was waiting for her at the checkpoint. He courted beautifully and in an original way - he brought armfuls of roses, said shocking, but pleasant compliments, stood under the windows of the apartment, ran at night. Landau referred to himself as a “beautiful painter”, and he was especially reverent about female beauty. He developed his own system for evaluating women on a four-point scale and, walking down the street, could show a few fingers to a companion, referring to the assessment of one or another “girl”. Naturally, he rated Kora very highly, but when the conversation turned to marriage, he waved his hands. “A good deed will not be called a marriage,” the temperamental Landau shouted. The scientist called the marital union a petty cooperative. “Tacts just want me to be your mistress,” Cora protested. "Exactly! - answered the ardent lover. I don't just want it, I dream about it! Think how beautiful this word is "mistress"! The bark could not resist the onslaught of the gentleman. I had to live with him in a civil marriage. The beloved had to take the life of the scientist into her own hands - only then did he begin to dress neater, in more expensive and fashionable things. Fortunately, Lev Davidovich was already making very good money then - he just didn’t really know what to do with the money. To services, chandeliers, furniture, etc. Dau always treated completely indifferently. And he was very little interested in appearance before he became an academician. They say that ill-wishers at one time even filed a complaint with the university authorities about appearance eternally disheveled and wrinkled young professor.

Landau's closest friends in Kharkov were the Shubnikovs, Lev and Olga (Trapeznikova). With them, the absent-minded and impractical Dau spent a lot of time, “feeding” before he finally got along with Kora. I went on holiday with them. Upon returning from another holiday trip, something happened that forced Lev Davidovich to urgently leave Kharkov. "Black Raven" took Shubnikov. Dow was devastated by this news. Attacks on himself soon began, Landau was accused of reading physics from a bourgeois position. Cora quickly figured out the situation, gathered Lev and sent him to Moscow. There, Landau was hired by Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa at the Institute for Physical Problems. It was 1937.

Lev Davidovich could not stand meanness and lies, but in his naivety he resembled a child. The sharp-tongued Landau often spoke very sharply about the work of the luminaries of Soviet and not only Soviet science. There is a legend about how Dow joked loudly at a lecture given in Kharkov by the famous Paul Dirac - "Dirac the Fool". Bohr once noted the unrestrained nature of the student: “Dau, do not shout, but criticize,” the Danish scientist often said to his young colleague. Among the Soviet academicians, Landau quickly made a lot of enemies - Lev Davidovich's reviews reached them. Here is one of Landau's "innocent" pranks. He asked Niels Bohr (who also liked to joke) to send a telegram addressed to one of Lev Davidovich's employees, which would inform him of his nomination for the Nobel Prize. Other “official requests” also came in, in which the victim of the prank was asked to urgently draw up a typewritten list of works in several copies. The “future laureate” did everything very quickly and appeared at the institute on the appointed day with all the documents. "Happy April, 1!" Lev Landau greeted him.

Landau's straightforwardness and uncompromising nature are emphasized by all contemporaries who knew him. He openly (both before and after his arrest) expressed the most seditious thoughts about the existing Soviet system. In general, Dau's life was saved by his genius precisely as a physicist. Any artist, writer, public figure, biologist or physician would undoubtedly be isolated from society, and most likely would lose their lives, if they had such beliefs expressed aloud. In 1937, Landau prepared a leaflet for publication and distribution, which spoke of the betrayal of the cause of the revolution by the Stalinist leadership. So, not the most trustworthy physicist was immediately arrested, interrogations began. Lev Davidovich spent about a year in prison, when he left, he could hardly stand on his feet. (Dau, even with a height of 182 cm, in normal times had a weight of less than 60 kg.) But he spoke of prison with humor - in the cell he wrote four scientific papers, and also "could calmly scold Stalin and not be afraid that they would arrest him tomorrow." He helped him get out of the clutches of Beria Kapitsa. He justified the need to release the outstanding physicist by expediency, said that the Soviet Union could not even think about any atomic project without Landau. (Probably, Kapitsa also had other considerations. He just carried out an experiment with helium at a low temperature. The results were unexpected, and theoretically, according to Pyotr Leonidovich, only one person could explain them - the one who was in Butyrka.) In a conversation with a high-ranking petitioner, Lavrenty Pavlovich showed him the testimony against himself, which Landau gave during interrogation, which, however, did not at all embarrass Kapitsa, who was well aware of the methods of such interrogations. Niels Bohr also sent a letter in defense of Landau to the Soviet government.

So, Dow was released. He thanked Kapitsa in full. In 1940-1941, he created the theory of superfluidity of helium II, which explained all its then known properties and predicted a number of new phenomena, in particular, the existence of a second sound in helium. Landau based his theory on the idea of ​​the excited states of a quantum system as a set of quasiparticles with a certain energy spectrum. These studies marked the beginning of the physics of quantum fluids. In 1956, Landau developed the theory of such liquids (the theory of Fermi liquids).

Leaving prison, Lev Davidovich summoned Kora to Moscow and nevertheless married her. Only before marriage did he conclude a “Marriage Pact” with her, according to which spouses were allowed to “twist novels” on the side. Landau was completely convinced that jealousy is the most terrible human feeling, this extraordinary person absolutely did not recognize any restriction on human freedom. And he went much further than the numerous theorists of free love. Dow really believed in her and acted according to his convictions. For many years, only Kora occupied him. He confessed to his wife that he would be glad to find a mistress, but they are all ugly, they are not suitable for Kora. But in 1946 she gave birth to a son, Igor. When she was still pregnant, Lev Davidovich finally found suitable "girls". With his mistresses, he came home and asked his wife to sit quietly. With childish spontaneity, he told his wife about his adventures, but convinced that he loved only her. And it looks like it was absolutely true. At the same time, Landau was also very worried about Kora's personal life - he himself took her to some potential lovers, tried to sneak out of the house so that his wife could have fun with the guest. Cora claims that she tried to play along, but nothing worked.

Landau willingly communicated his theory “How a man should build his life in the right way” to friends, relatives and colleagues. His dacha and apartment were always at the service of all his acquaintances who sought solitude with their "illegalized" lovers. In the middle drawer of his desk, Dow kept a large amount of money, which he called the “Henpecked Relief Fund.” ("Henpecked" are all faithful husbands.) From this fund, Landau's friends received money for trips to the Crimea, restaurants, etc. By the way, Dau did not keep money in a savings book, he gave more than half of all salaries, bonuses and numerous book royalties to Kora - “for the maintenance of the house and husband”, and the rest was left to himself “for pocket expenses” and the said fund. He helped with money not only henpecked people, but also those close and not very people who simply needed help. Including sister Sonya and her daughter Ella, Lifshits and many, many others. In particular, the families of physicists who were repressed at the same time as Landau, but, unlike him, were not amnestied.

During the war, Landau were evacuated to Kazan. Lev Davidovich was involved in solving military problems, had a certain relation to the development of the first rocket weapons, and was engaged in the theory of explosions. For his work during the war, he received his first order - the "Badge of Honor", which he was proud of more than any other award.

Then Lev Landau was forced to deal with the atomic bomb. “We cannot allow such a terrible weapon to belong only to the Americans,” said the scientist. But at the same time, he did not want to devote his life to work "for the defense industry." Landau set a condition for Kurchatov: “I will calculate the bomb, I will do everything, but I will come to your meetings in extremely necessary cases. All my calculation materials will be brought to you by Dr. Zel'dovich, and Zel'dovich will also sign my calculations. This is technology, and my vocation is science.” For participation in the atomic project, Landau received the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor in 1953. Three times after the war, Lev Davidovich received the State Prize of the USSR.

After the war, Landau lived on the territory of the Institute for Physical Problems, in a house and apartments built according to the English model under the personal supervision of Kapitsa. Cora said that she was pleased with the close proximity of the apartment to the institute, since her husband left the house without warm clothes, often stayed late at work, forgetting about lunch and dinner - they had to call, demand to come home to eat. Sometimes Landau was even surprised: “Haven’t I eaten today?” The scientist refused an office at the institute - he conducted important scientific conversations in the corridors, walking in the park of the institute. Exceptionally interesting were the seminars at which Dau's students made presentations. They claim that their beloved teacher did not personally get acquainted with foreign literature - he learned about the latest achievements from their speeches, but immediately grasped the main essence, made concise, but amazingly well-aimed remarks, often he himself hesitated to shortchange what his colleagues abroad had already considered. , and came to independent serious conclusions. With his acquaintances, he casually, generously shared hundreds and thousands of ideas. So his many co-authors were rewarded for their joint work with Dow, they greedily hung on his every word. Often, during a conversation, Landau's gaze focused on one point, he stopped listening to his interlocutor - this meant that his brain again grabbed onto something new, promising great prospects. Most of all, Dow liked to work at home on the couch. He lay, surrounded by pillows, and quickly scribbled sheets of paper that fell under his arm, then, as usual, he ran somewhere, then shouted that he could not find anywhere the very important “such a small crumpled leaflet”, which he and his wife were looking for in all corners of his room and found in the pocket of a dressing gown.

Reference books write that Landau's scientific works are devoted to the most different problems theoretical physics, but the main (even a funny word in this context) sections to which he made a significant contribution “should be considered quantum mechanics, solid state physics, the theory of second-order phase transitions, the theory of Fermi liquid and the theory of superfluid liquid, the theory of cosmic rays , hydrodynamics and physical kinetics, quantum field theory, elementary particle physics and plasma physics". In addition to their own most important research in these areas, Landau's students also achieved significant success, which I. Lifshitz, A. Akhiezer, A. Migdal, A. Khalatnikov, V. Ginzburg, A. Abrikosov proudly called themselves. The latter two owe their Nobel Prize, awarded in 2003, to the work on superconductors that they did together with Landau. In 1946, bypassing the status of corresponding member, Landau was accepted as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. S. Vavilov, who nominated him, said in his speech: “I don’t know about you, but I am ashamed that I am an academician, and Landau is not yet.”

Landau called boredom the greatest sin of man. Not only did his job let him get rid of her, but his legendary sense of humour. Actually, Dau is a classic Soviet physicist-humorist - an image exploited by everyone who wants to talk about how fun young Soviet scientists lived in the 1950s-1960s, a person who probably brought to the scientific community the much-needed most serious people ease of communication, sharp mind, ability to have fun. Even in Kharkov, on the door of Landau's office it was written "Beware, it bites!" When the access system was introduced at the UPTI, Lev Davidovich attached his document just below the back, his paradoxes, casually thrown phrases became winged. And after the arrest, Landau remained the same witty, cheerful person. When his fiftieth birthday was celebrated in 1958, students and colleagues took into account Dow's character and staged a real skit without pompous monologues and ceremonies. At the entrance of the guests of the events, the inscription “Leave congratulatory addresses on a hanger” was waiting, it was read from the stage that everyone who used the words “outstanding contribution to science”, “it is difficult to overestimate”, etc., would be fined. Landau was presented with a lion's tail, which he immediately attached to his belt; tablets, on which, instead of commandments, 10 main scientific results achieved by a physicist were carved. A telegram was read from Y. Khariton: “Dau, don't be upset! Who is not fifty now, except some boy?”

On January 7, 1962, disaster struck. On this day, Lev Landau left Moscow for Dubna, where he intended to solve the family problems of his niece Ella. He rode in a car with a familiar married couple. On a slippery road, the driver lost control and crashed into a dump truck. The blow fell just on the wing, to which Lev Landau was pinned. None of the passengers, except for him, was injured, but he had serious injuries to internal organs, a rupture of the lungs, a fracture of the pelvic bones, and a severe craniocerebral injury. Landau, unconscious (it returned to him only a few weeks later), was sent to the hospital, the luminaries of Soviet medical science gathered around, consultations were constantly held, leading experts from Canada, France and Czechoslovakia urgently arrived in Moscow. The diagnosis was disappointing. Doctors did not believe that the life of an outstanding scientist could be saved. The entire scientific world was shocked by the news of the disaster. Moscow physicists, on the other hand, organized constant duty in the hospital, the yard was full of cars and people, reports on the state of Lev Landau's health were hung on the doors of the institutes, fundraising was organized, unique preparations were handed over by Western colleagues. And a miracle happened - Dau was pulled from the other world. In 1962, a Nobel Prize was brought to his bed from Stockholm "for his fundamental theories of condensed matter, especially liquid helium."

However, it turned out that the physicist could no longer do science. He did not immediately begin to recognize people, his distant memory was restored, but what happened yesterday, an hour ago, etc., Landau recalled with great difficulty. The sense of humor, love of freedom was gone - now Dau was completely subordinate to Kora and, apparently, did not always understand what was happening around. Colleagues took an unprecedented step - they retained the post of head of the theoretical department of the Institute of Physical Problems for the incapacitated Landau. In order to receive a salary, he had only to appear at meetings of the scientific council. He would come leaning on the nurse and look at his watch. He told his neighbors: "Cora said that when the minute hand points to six, I can leave." Already at the end of his life, the physicist spoke about what happened before 1962: "It was still with me." Lev Davidovich Landau died on April 1, 1968 in the hospital, where he ended up due to intestinal obstruction.

The new Institute of Theoretical Physics was named after the outstanding scientist. Many books of memoirs were published - fortunately, Landau left "rich material." Unfortunately, even at the bedside of the sick scientist, a serious “squabble” broke out (you can’t call it otherwise) between Kora, the Lifshits spouses, Ella, Landau’s last passion ... Kora accused Lifshitz of being afraid to take Dau to Dubna on ice, that he allegedly stole some of her husband's things; Ella writes that Kora never visited the hospitals where Landau lay unconscious, did not give money for his treatment; she, in turn, does not deny that she has not been in the clinic for a long time, but explains this by the presence of her mistress there (which is why Cora was allegedly stopped by physicists at the entrance) ... Lev Landau firmly believed in his ideals of friendship, love, freedom, he also believed that he had managed to captivate close, dear people with them. It seems that this is not entirely true.

But he managed to do so much for his students, for science, for the Earth, for all mankind, that his appearance is seen as pure, no matter what.

en.wikipedia.org

Biography

A gold medal awarded since 1998 by the Department of Nuclear Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences is named after Landau. Also named after Landau is the Institute of Theoretical Physics. L. D. Landau RAS

Born in the family of oil engineer David Lvovich Landau and his wife Lyubov Veniaminovna in Baku on January 22, 1908. From 1916 he studied at the Baku Jewish gymnasium, where his mother, Lyubov Veniaminovna Landau (nee Garkavi) was a natural science teacher. Unusually gifted in mathematics, Landau jokingly said about himself: “I learned to integrate at the age of 13, but I always knew how to differentiate.” At the age of fourteen he entered Baku University, where he studied simultaneously at two faculties: physics and mathematics and chemistry. For special successes he was transferred to Leningrad University. After graduating in 1927 from the physics department of the Leningrad University, Landau became a graduate student, and later an employee of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology, in 1926-1927 he published the first works on theoretical physics. In 1929 he was on a scientific mission to continue his education in Germany, in Denmark with Niels Bohr, in England and Switzerland. There he worked with leading theoretical physicists, including Niels Bohr, whom he considered his only teacher ever since. In 1932 he headed the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkov. Since 1937 at the Institute of Physical Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Academician Landau (his close friends and colleagues called him Dau) is considered a legendary figure in the history of Russian and world science. Quantum mechanics, solid state physics, magnetism, low temperature physics, cosmic ray physics, hydrodynamics, quantum field theory, atomic nucleus physics and elementary particle physics, plasma physics - this is not a complete list of areas that attracted Landau's attention at different times. It was said about him that in "the huge building of physics of the 20th century there were no locked doors for him."

From 1932 to 1937 he worked at the UFTI; after his dismissal from Kharkov University and the ensuing strike of physicists, Landau in February 1937 accepted the invitation of Peter Kapitsa to take the position of head of the theoretical department of the newly built Institute for Physical Problems (IFP) and moved to Moscow. After Landau's departure, the authorities of the regional NKVD began to destroy the UPTI, foreign specialists A. Weisberg, F. Houtermans were arrested, in August-September 1937 the physicists L. V. Rozenkevich (co-author Landau), L. V. Shubnikov, V. S. Gorsky (“UFTI case”). In April 1938, Landau in Moscow edits a leaflet written by M. A. Korets calling for the overthrow of the Stalinist regime, in which Stalin is called a fascist dictator. The text of the leaflet was handed over to the anti-Stalinist group of IFLI students for distribution by mail before the May Day holidays. This intention was revealed by the state security organs of the USSR, and Landau, Korets and Yu. B. Rumer were arrested for anti-Soviet agitation. Landau spent a year in prison and was released thanks to a letter in defense of Niels Bohr and the intervention of Kapitsa, who took Landau "on bail". After his release, until his death in 1968, Landau was an employee of the IFP.

In 1955 he signed the Letter of Three Hundred.

Death

January 7, 1962, on the way from Moscow to Dubna, Landau got into a car accident. As a result of serious injuries, he was in a coma for 59 days. Physicists from all over the world took part in saving Landau's life. A round-the-clock duty was organized in the hospital. The missing medicines were delivered by aircraft from Europe and the United States. As a result of these measures, Landau's life was saved, despite very serious injuries.

After the accident, Landau practically ceased to engage in scientific activities. However, according to his wife and son, Landau gradually returned to his normal state and in 1968 was close to resuming his studies in physics.

Landau died a few days after the operation to eliminate intestinal obstruction. Diagnosis - thrombosis of mesenteric vessels. Death occurred as a result of blockage of the artery by a detached thrombus. Landau's wife, in her memoirs, expressed doubts about the competence of some of the doctors who treated Landau, especially doctors from special clinics for the treatment of the USSR leadership.

Personal life and the theory of happiness

As a child, fascinated by science, Landau made a vow to himself never "to smoke, not to drink and not to marry." Also, he believed that marriage is a cooperative that has nothing to do with love. However, he met a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry, Concordia (Kora) Drobantseva, who divorced her first husband. She swore that she would not be jealous of other women, and since 1934 they lived together in a civil marriage. Landau believed that lies and betrayal destroy marriage most of all, and therefore they entered into a “non-aggression pact in married life” (as planned by Dau), which gave relative freedom to both spouses in novels on the side. The official marriage was concluded between them in 1946 after the birth of their son Igor. Igor Lvovich Landau graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University, an experimental physicist in the field of low temperature physics.

Landau's only non-physical theory was the theory of happiness. He believed that every person should and even must be happy. To do this, he derived a simple formula that contained three parameters:

Work
- Love
- Communication with people

Love. Belinsky's words "Love is poetry and the sun of life!" Dow was delighted. His ideal of a man went back to a brave knight, a conqueror of ladies' hearts, who gives a third of his life to love affairs. Dau himself understood that this was a book image, but he still took love seriously.

Communication with people. This is what Landau did. He could not live without constant communication with colleagues, students and friends. He had a great many acquaintances, in addition, communication included a seminar, and conversations with students, and letters.

Brief chronology of life and work

January 22, 1908 - in Baku, the son of Lev was born in the family of Lyubov Veniaminovna Garkavi and David Lvovich Landau.
- 1916 - 1920 - studying at the gymnasium
- 1920 - 1922 - studying at the Baku Economic College.
- 1922 - 1924 - study at the Azerbaijan State University.
- 1924 - transfer to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Leningrad State University.
- 1926 - admission to the supernumerary graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology.
- Participation in the V Congress of Russian Physicists in Moscow (December 15-20).
- Publication of Landau's first scientific work "On the Theory of Spectra of Diatomic Molecules".
- 1927 - graduation from the university (January 20) and admission to the graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology.
- In the work "The problem of braking by radiation" for the description of the state of systems for the first time he introduces a new concept into quantum mechanics - the density matrix.
- 1929 - year and a half scientific trip to continue education in Berlin, Göttingen, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Zurich.
- Publication of a work on diamagnetism, which put him on a par with the largest physicists in the world.
- March 1931 - return home and work in Leningrad.
- August 1932 - transfer to Kharkov as head of the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UFTI).
- 1933 - appointment as head of the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering (now Polytechnic) Institute. Reading a course of lectures at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
- 1934 - L. D. Landau was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a dissertation.
- Conference on Theoretical Physics in Kharkov.
- Trip to Bohr's seminar in Copenhagen (May 1-22).
- Creation of a theoretical minimum - a special program for training young physicists.
- 1935 - reading a course in physics at Kharkov State University, head of the department of general physics of Kharkov State University.
- conferring the title of professor.
- 1936-1937 - creation of the theory of phase transitions of the second kind and the theory of the intermediate state of superconductors.
- 1937 - transfer to work at the Institute of Physical Problems in Moscow (February 8).
- Appointment as head of the theoretical department of the IFP.
- 1938 - arrest (April 27)
- 1939 - release from prison due to the intervention of P. L. Kapitsa (April 29).
- 1940 - 1941 - creation of the theory of superfluidity of liquid helium.
- 1941 - Creation of the theory of quantum fluid.
- 1943 - was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
- 1945 - awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
- 1946, November 30 - election as a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
- Awarding the Stalin Prize.
- 1946 - creation of the theory of electron plasma oscillations ("Landau damping").
- 1948 - publication of the "Course of lectures on general physics" (Publishing house of Moscow State University).
- 1949 - Awarded the Stalin Prize, awarded the Order of Lenin.
- 1950 - construction of the theory of superconductivity (together with VL Ginzburg).
- 1951 - elected a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences.
- 1953 - awarding the Stalin Prize.
- 1954 - awarding the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
- publication (together with A. A. Abrikosov, I. M. Khalatnikov) of the fundamental work "Fundamentals of Electrodynamics".
- 1955 - publication of "Lectures on the theory of the atomic nucleus" (together with Ya. A. Smorodinsky).
- 1956 - elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Netherlands.
- 1957 - creation of the theory of the Fermi liquid.
- 1959 - L. D. Landau proposes the principle of combined parity.
- 1960 - elected a member of the British Physical Society, the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences and Arts.
- Awarded the Fritz London Prize.
- Rewarding with the Max Planck medal (Germany).
- 1962 - a car accident on the way to Dubna (January 7)
- Lenin Prize for a series of books on theoretical physics (together with E. M. Lifshitz) (April).
- Nobel Prize in Physics "For pioneering work in the theory of condensed matter, especially liquid helium." Awarded on November 1, 1962. The Nobel Prize medal, diploma and check were presented to Landau on December 10 (for the first time in the history of the Nobel Prizes, the awarding took place in a hospital).
- awarded the Order of Lenin
- 1968, April 1, 21 hours 50 minutes - Lev Davidovich Landau died a few days after the operation.

Landau School. theoretical minimum

Physicists who were able to pass Lev Davidovich (and later his students) 9 theoretical exams, the so-called Landau theoretical minimum, were considered Landau's students. Mathematics was taken first, and then physics exams:

Two math exams
- Mechanics
- field theory
- quantum mechanics
- statistical physics
- continuum mechanics
- electrodynamics of continuous media
- quantum electrodynamics

Landau demanded from his students knowledge of the foundations of all branches of theoretical physics.

After the war, it was best to use Landau and Lifshitz's theoretical physics course to prepare for exams, but the first students took exams on Landau's lectures or on handwritten notes. The first to pass the theoretical minimum Landau Landau were:

Alexander Solomonovich Kompaneets (1933)
- Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits (1934)
- Alexander Ilyich Akhiezer (1935)
- Isaac Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk (1935)
- Leonid Moiseevich Pyatigorsky (passed the theoretical minimum fifth, but not listed in the list provided by Landau)
- Laszlo Tissa (1935)
- Veniamin Grigorievich Levich (1937)

That's what Landau said

In addition to science, Landau is known as a joker. His contribution to scientific humor is quite large. Possessing a subtle, sharp mind and excellent eloquence, Landau encouraged humor in every possible way in his colleagues. He gave rise to the term Landau said so, and also became the hero of various humorous stories. Characteristically, jokes are not necessarily related to physics and mathematics.

Landau had her own classification of women. According to Landau, girls are divided into beautiful, pretty and interesting.

Landau in culture

In 1972, the Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh discovered the asteroid 2142, which was named after him in honor of Lev Davidovich.

Also on the Moon there is the Landau crater, named after the scientist:
- Landau (eng. Landau) - a crater on the far side of the moon.
- The crater has a flattened rampart, no terraces, a rampart, many slides at the bottom, a chain, uneven bottom, lava at the bottom, no ray system, located on the mainland.

Coordinates: 42.2° N sh. 119.4° W d.
- Diameter: 225 km
- Eponym: Landau, Lev Davidovich (1908-1968) - Soviet theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize winner.
- SAI index: 31

Landauite is a mineral from the crichtonite group, discovered in 1966, named after Landau.

In 2008, Rhythm TV made the film My Husband is a Genius, which was severely criticized by people who knew Landau, in particular, Academician Vitaly Ginzburg, who personally knew Lev Landau, called the film "simply disgusting, deceitful."

In 2008, the shooting of the serial feature film "Dow" began (in Kharkov, Moscow and St. Petersburg). The film is expected to be completed by early 2010.

Bibliography

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- Diamagnetism of metals // Ztshr. Phys. 1930. Bd. 64. S. 629.
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- On the theory of energy transfer in collisions. II // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1932. Bd. 2. S. 46.
- On the theory of stars // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1932. Bd. 1. S. 285.
- On the motion of electrons in a crystal lattice// Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 3. S. 664.
- The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Universe // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 4. S. 114. (Jointly with A. Bronstein.)
- Possible explanation of the dependence of the susceptibility on the field at low temperatures // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1933. Bd. 4. S. 675.
- Internal temperature of stars // Nature. 1933. V. 132. P. 567. (Jointly with G. Gamow.)
- Structure of the unshifted scattering line // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 5. S. 172. (Together with G. Plachen.)
- On the theory of deceleration of fast electrons by radiation // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 5. S. 761; ZhETF. 1935. V. 5. S. 255.
- On the formation of electrons and positrons in the collision of two particles // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1934. Bd. 6. S. 244. (Jointly with E. M. Lifshitz.)
- On the theory of heat capacity anomalies // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 113.
- On the theory of the dispersion of the magnetic permeability of ferromagnetic bodies // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 153. (Jointly with E. M. Lifshitz.)
- On relativistic corrections to the Schrödinger equation in the many-body problem // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 487.
- On the theory of the coefficient of accommodation // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1935. Bd. 8. S. 489.
- On the theory of photoelectromotive force in semiconductors // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 9. S. 477. (Jointly with E. M. Lifshitz.)
- On the theory of sound dispersion // Phys. Ztshr. SOW. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 34. (Jointly with E. Teller.)
- On the theory of monomolecular reactions // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 67.
- Kinetic equation in the case of Coulomb interaction // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 203; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 154.
- On the properties of metals at very low temperatures // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 379; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1936. Bd. 10. S. 649. (Jointly with I. Ya. Pomeranchuk.)
- Scattering of light by light // Nature. 1936. V. 138. R. 206. (Jointly with A. I. Akhiezer and I. Ya. Pomeranchuk.)
- On the sources of stellar energy // DAN SSSR. 1937. T. 17. S. 301; Nature. 1938. V. 141. R. 333.
- On the absorption of sound in solids // Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 18. (Jointly with Yu. B. Rumer.)
- To the theory of phase transitions. I // JETP. 1937. T. 7. S. 19; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 7. S. 19.
- To the theory of phase transitions. II // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 627; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 545.
- On the theory of superconductivity // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 371; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 7. S. 371.
- On the statistical theory of nuclei // ZhETF. 1937. T. 7. S. 819; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 11. S. 556.
- Scattering of X-rays by crystals near the Curie point // ZhETF. 1937. Vol. 7. S. 1232; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 12. S. 123.
- Scattering of X-rays by crystals with variable structure // ZhETF. 1937. Vol. 7. S. 1227; Phys. Ztshr. sow. 1937. Bd. 12. S. 579.
- Formation of showers by heavy particles // Nature. 1937. V. 140. P. 682. (Jointly with Yu. B. Rumer.)
- Stability of neon and carbon with respect to a-decay // Phys. Rev. 1937. V. 52. P. 1251.
- Cascade theory of electron showers // Proc. Roy. soc. 1938. V. A166. P. 213. (Together with Yu. B. Rumer.)
- On the de Haas-van Alphen effect // Proc. Roy. soc. 1939. V. A170. P. 363. Appendix to the article by D. Shen-Schenberg.
- On the polarization of electrons during scattering // DAN SSSR. 1940. T. 26. S. 436; Phys. Rev. 1940. V. 57. P. 548.
- On the "radius" of elementary particles // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 718; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 2. P. 485.
- On the scattering of mesotrons by "nuclear forces" // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 721; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 2. P. 483.
- Angular distribution of particles in showers // ZhETF. 1940. T. 10. S. 1007; J Phys. USSR. 1940. V. 3. P. 237.
- The theory of superfluidity of helium-II // ZhETF. 1941. T. 11. S. 592
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- On the hydrodynamics of helium-II // ZhETF. 1944. T. 14. S. 112
- Theory of viscosity of helium-II // JETF. 1949. T. 19. S. 637
- What is the theory of relativity. // Publishing house "Soviet Russia", Moscow 1975 3rd edition supplemented (Together with Yu. B. Rumer)
- Physics for all // M. Mir. 1979. (Together with A.I. Kitaygorodsky.)

Biographical publications

Abrikosov, A. A. Academician L. D. Landau: a brief biography and review of scientific works. - M.: Nauka, 1965. - 46 p.: portr.
- Abrikosov, A. A., Khalatnikov, I. M. Academician L. D. Landau // Physics at school. - 1962. - N 1. - P. 21-27.
- Academician Lev Davidovich Landau: Collection. - M: Knowledge, 1978. - (New in life, science, technology. Ser. Physics; N 3).
- Academician Lev Davidovich Landau [on his fiftieth birthday] // Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics. - 1958. - T.34. - P.3-6.
- Academician Lev Landau - Nobel laureate [brief chronological review] // Science and Life. - 1963.- N 2. - S.18-19.
- Akhiezer, A.I. Lev Davidovich Landau // Ukrainian Journal of Physics. - 1969. - T.14, N 7. - S.1057-1059.
- Bessarab, M. Ya. Landau: Pages of life. - 2nd ed. - M.: Mosk.worker, 1978. - 232 p.: ill.
- Bessarab, M. Ya. Landau's Formula of Happiness (Portraits). - M.: Terra-book. club, 1999. - 303 s - Bibliography: S.298-302.
- Bessarab, M. Ya. That's what Landau said. - M.: Fizmatlit. 2004. - 128 p.
- Boyarintsev, V.I. Jewish and Russian scientists. Myths and reality. - M.: Fairy-V, 2001. - 172 p.
- Vasiltsova, Z. Pedagogy of creativity [about L. D. Landau] // Young communist. - 1971. - N 5. - S.88-91.
- Memories of L. D. Landau / Ed. ed. I. M. Khalatnikov. - M.: Nauka, 1988. - 352 p.: ill.
- Around Landau (electronic collections) / IIET RAN, 2008
- Ginzburg, V. L. Lev Landau - Teacher and scientist // Moskovsky Komsomolets. - 1968. - January 18.
- Ginzburg, VL Lev Davidovich Landau // Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk. - 1968. - T.94, N 1. - S.181-184.
- Golovanov, Ya. Life among formulas. Academician L. D. Landau is 60 // Komsomolskaya Pravda. - 1968. - January 23.
- Gorelik G. E. Soviet life of Lev Landau. Moscow: Vagrius, 2008, 463 p., 61 illustrations.
- Gorobets, B. S. Krug Landau // Network almanac "Jewish antiquity", 2006-2007.
- Grashchenkov, N.I. How the life of Academician L.D. Landau was saved // Priroda. - 1963. - N 3. - S.106-108.
- Grashchenkov, N. I. The miraculous victory of Soviet doctors [on the struggle for the life of the physicist L. D. Landau] // Ogonyok. - 1962. - N 30. - P. 30.
- A long time ago... [L. D. Landau - one of the founders of the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Moscow] // Ogonyok. - 1996. - N 50. - S.22-26.
- Danin, D. It was just that ... // Cinema Art. - 1973.- N 8. - S.85-87.
- Danin, D. Partnership [on the struggle to save the life of L. D. Landau] / / Literary newspaper. - 1962. - July 21.
- Zel'dovich, Ya. B. Encyclopedia of Theoretical Physics [to be awarded the Lenin Prize in 1962 to L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshits] // Priroda. - 1962. - N 7. - S.58-60.
- Kaganov, M.I. Landau - as I knew him // Nature. - 1971. - N 7. - S.83-87.
- Kaganov, M.I. Landau school: what do I think about it. - Troitsk: Trovant, 1998. - 359 p.
- Kassirsky, I. A. The triumph of heroic therapy // Health. - 1963. - N 1. - S.3-4.
- Kravchenko, V. L. L. D. Landau - Nobel Prize laureate // Science and Technology. - 1963. - N 2. - S.16-18.
- Landau-Drobantseva, K. Academician Landau: How we lived. - M.: Zakharov, 2000. - 493 p.
- Lev Davidovich Landau [on his fiftieth birthday] // Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk. - 1958. - T.64, issue 3. - S.615-623.
- Lenin Prize in 1962 in the field of physical sciences [to award the prize to L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshits] // Physics at school. - 1962. - N 3. - S.7-8.
- Livanova, Anna. Landau. - M.: Knowledge, 1983.
- Lifshitz, E. M. Landau's live speech // Science and Life. - 1971. - N 9. - S.14-22.
- Lifshits, E. M. History and explanations of superfluidity of liquid helium [on the 60th anniversary of Academician L. D. Landau] // Priroda. - 1968. - N 1. - S.73-81.
- Lifshitz, E. M. Lev Davidovich Landau // Successes in Physical Sciences. - 1969. - T.97, N 4. - S.169-186.
- Masters of eloquence: [on the oratory of L. D. Landau]. - M.: Knowledge, 1991.
- Scientific work of L. D. Landau: Collection. - M.: Knowledge, 1963.
- Rolov, Bruno. Academician Landau // Science and technology. - 1968. - N 6. - S.16-20.
- Rumer, Yu. Pages of memoirs about L. D. Landau // Science and Life. - 1974. - N 6. - S.99-101.
- Tamm, I. E., Abrikosov, A. A., Khalatnikov, I. M. L. D. Landau - Nobel Prize Laureate in 1962 // Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - 1962. - N 12. - S.63-67.
- Tsipenyuk, Y. Discovery of "Dry Water" [on the study of the properties of helium by P. L. Kapitsa and L. D. Landau] // Science and Life. - 1967. - N 3. - S.40-45.
- Yu. I. Krivonosov, Landau and Sakharov in the developments of the KGB, Komsomolskaya Pravda. August 8, 1992.
- Shalnikov A.I. Our Dau [for the award of the Nobel Prize to the Soviet physicist L.D. Landau] // Culture and Life. - 1963. - No. 1. - S. 20-23.
- Shubnikov, L.V. Selected works. Memories. - Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1990.
- Around Landau. Materials for the 100th anniversary of the birth of L. D. Landau. Part 1. Memories. Department of the History of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the IIET RAS. 2008. 117 p. The collection includes memoirs about L. D. Landau, published in various electronic journals in the last decade.

SECRET EMPLOYEE NEXT TO ACADEMICIAN LANDAU
Could the KGB have its informants in the immediate circle of the outstanding Soviet physicist
Boris Gorobets
About the author: Boris Solomonovich Gorobets - Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Professor of the Moscow State University of Engineering Ecology.

Sexot is a secret agent. So once called the assistants of the state security agencies, their non-staff employees. The term was originally not offensive at all, with a touch of romantic mystery. But among the people, in general, they were not respected and were colloquially called informers. Before moving on to the main topic, a little background is needed.

KNIGHTS OF THE SPHERICAL Puff

One of the most prominent Soviet physicists, Nobel laureate academician Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-1968) led in the late 1940s and early 1950s a group of theorists who carried out fantastically complex calculations of nuclear and thermonuclear chain reactions in the projected hydrogen bomb. It is known that the main theorist in the Soviet atomic bomb project was Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, later Igor Evgenievich Tamm, Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg were involved in the hydrogen bomb project (here I name only those scientists whose participation was decisive, without belittling the enormous contribution of dozens of other outstanding scientists and designers).

Much less is known about the participation of Landau and his group, which included Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz, Naum Natanovich Meiman, and other collaborators. Meanwhile, recently in the leading American popular science magazine "Scientific American" (1997, # 2) in an article by Gennady Gorelik, it was stated that Landau's group managed to do something that turned out to be beyond the strength of the Americans. Our scientists gave a complete calculation of the basic model of a hydrogen bomb, the so-called spherical puff, in which layers with nuclear and thermonuclear explosives alternated - the explosion of the first shell created a temperature of millions of degrees, necessary to ignite the second. The Americans were unable to calculate such a model and postponed the calculations until the advent of powerful computers. Ours is all calculated manually. And calculated correctly. In 1953, the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was detonated. Its main creators, including Landau, became Heroes of Socialist Labor. Many others were awarded Stalin Prizes (including Landau's student and closest friend Yevgeny Lifshits).

Naturally, all participants in the projects for the manufacture of atomic and hydrogen bombs were under the tight control of the special services. Especially leading scientists. It couldn't be otherwise. Now it is even somehow inconvenient to recall the well-known story about how the Americans literally “blew” their atomic bomb. This refers to the German emigrant, physicist Klaus Fuchs, who worked for Soviet intelligence and handed over to our drawings of the bomb, which dramatically accelerated the work on its manufacture. It is much less known that the Soviet spy Margarita Konenkova (wife of the famous sculptor) worked for our intelligence ... in bed with Albert Einstein, being a lover for a number of years brilliant physicist. Since Einstein did not actually participate in the American atomic project, she could not report anything of real value. But, again, one cannot but admit that the Soviet state security, in principle, acted quite correctly, encircling potential sources of important information with their secret agents.

LANDAU CASE

In principle, it could not be otherwise in the case of Landau, or rather, even more so with Landau, a man who spent a year in an NKVD prison on charges of making a leaflet (it was written in an anti-Stalinist spirit, but from the standpoint of Marxism). He was set free only thanks to the heroic efforts of Academician Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, who obtained consent to this, apparently, at the level of Stalin himself. Landau and his collaborators, of course, were aware that they were under the vigilant control of the authorities. They even suspected some of the theoretical physicists of working on the organs.

And now, many years later, two sources of information appeared in the open press that are able to shed light on the key question: who could be a sexot under an academician. The proposed solution turns out to be trivial and, at the same time, unexpected.

The first of the sources is an article in the Historical Archive magazine (1993, # 3) entitled "According to agents and operational equipment. Reference of the KGB of the USSR about Academician L.D. Landau". The certificate is labeled "Top Secret". It was issued at the request of the head of the Department of Science of the Central Committee of the CPSU V.A. Kirillin in 1957.

The second source of information is the book by Landau's wife Konkordia Terentievna Landau-Drobantseva "Academician Landau. How We Lived" (Moscow, 1999, ed. Zakharov AST).

Reading both sources together gives an amazing "assembly effect". I'm not going to impose this "decision" on anyone and even name the main character or heroine of this note. And therefore, forgive me those who are "lazy in mind and waiting for such prophecies, so that everything coincides, right down to names and patronymics." I will try to objectively state the available facts in the form of documents and evidence, and let the reader draw his own conclusions.

ACCORDING TO THE KGB

Here are a few paragraphs from the KGB reference (syntax preserved):

The first quote from the denunciations is dated 1947.

"... We do not understand and do not like science, which, incidentally, is not surprising, since it is led by locksmiths, carpenters, joiners ..."

From a denunciation of November 1956: "... Lenin also had a stigma in down. Let's remember the Kronstadt uprising ..."

To the question: "So this idea is vicious?" - Landau answered: "Of course."

The certificate goes on to say: "This kind of reasoning has been repeatedly recorded by several agents." In July-September 1953, according to intelligence reports, Landau made slanderous statements about the leaders of the party and government about exposing Beria's enemy activities. Subsequently, Landau, in a conversation with another agent, said that his opinion on this issue was wrong. "" Since October 1953, the agents noted Landau's positive statements about the policy of the CPSU and the Soviet government ... "

The certificate states: "Landau spends most of his time at home, regularly listens to foreign radio broadcasts and, receiving numerous visitors, broadcasts their anti-Soviet content." "Landau's intention to go abroad, according to agents and operational equipment, is strongly fueled by his entourage, in particular, Professor E. M. Lifshitz."

“One of the closest people to Landau on the issue of his trip abroad in 1957 said: “... it would be imprudent to allow Landau to go abroad, since one cannot be sure that he will return. He is certainly not attached to the family, and attachment to the son does not give the impression of a deep affection of the father. He communicates little with him and thinks more about his mistresses than about his son ... "

So, from short fragments of denunciations and the accompanying text of the certificate, it follows documentarily that there were agents under Landau, and one of them was "one of the persons closest to Landau." He characterized Landau's intra-family relations and expressed fears that Landau might not return from abroad to his family, to his son. He had the opportunity to observe Landau's behavior at home, his listening to foreign radio, his conversations with visitors.

Of course, it is theoretically possible to assume that there were no agents, that only the listening equipment was working, and that the top-secret KGB report reports that agents allegedly existed on purpose, for provocative purposes. (In provocations addressed to whom - the department of the Central Committee, to which the certificate was sent?) I note such a possibility, recently expressed by one of Landau's students. But according to the canons of the operational work of all special services, one equipment is clearly not enough, since there is still a very large information field in space and time around the object of observation (for example, in the field of intimate communication of the object, his conversations in whispers, gestures, notes, while walking, etc.) .) Serious cover necessarily requires the use of the most reliable and cheapest means - people. Therefore, let's immediately reject the naive assumption that the MGB-KGB relied only on equipment.

OUTSIDE THE PARTY, OUTSIDE THE KOMSOMOL

I will note one more interesting detail. The certificate nowhere mentions the position of Landau's wife: neither for nor against, as if she does not exist at all. Meanwhile, from the next most important literary source, the book by Kora Landau, we learn that Landau's conversations with his wife were ongoing and the widest range of issues that could be of great interest to the MGB-KGB were discussed: both political topics and personal characteristics of Landau's friends and employees, including , of course, and dirt on them.

And now we give an extensive excerpt from the book of Cora Landau-Drobantseva (see pp. 283-284):

“Somehow I went into the ward of Dau - Grashchenkov (professor of medicine who supervised Landau's treatment after a car accident that happened on January 7, 1962 - B.G.) was finishing Landau's examination.

Korusha, how I was waiting for you, how much trouble I gave you with my illness. And when I found you in Kharkov, I so dreamed of arranging a happy life for you. Do you remember how you persuaded me in Kharkov to join Communist Party. I have always been a Marxist in my convictions. Korusha, now I have decided to join the Communist Party.

Grashchenkov's eyes widened.

Daunka, you first get well.

No, Korusha, I have finally decided to join the Communist Party. You've always wanted this.

Dow, now I have one dream that you become healthy.

Crust, naturally, I'll recover first.

I remembered that in Kharkov I really wanted Dau to become a communist, in those distant young Komsomol years I had a firm conviction: only small people like Zhenya Lifshitz, alien to our Soviet ideology, should remain outside the party, outside the Komsomol, this was in the early thirties ".

It is known that the book of Kora was perceived sharply negatively by many physicists who knew her heroes closely during their lifetime: academicians Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, Lev Petrovich Pitaevsky and Evgeny Lvovich Feinberg, professors Moisei Isakovich Kaganov and Yakov Lvovich Alpert, assistant Pyotr Kapitsa and director of his museum Pavel Evgenievich Rubinin (I have listed here only those whose opinions I know for certain).

One way or another, it seems to me that even one just quoted passage from Kora's memoirs is a valuable document that provides the most direct evidence that it can be about the ideological (in the Soviet sense of the word) attitude of the person closest to Landau. Elsewhere in the book it is mentioned that Kora "was even hired as an instructor for the district party committee in Kazan in 1943." And one more factual quote: "The secretary of the IFP party committee said:" Cora, you now have one very serious party load - take care of your husband, our country really needs Landau "(p. 136).

So, everything is clear with public control: Kora had both strong motives and great opportunities for its implementation. Cora carried out a party assignment that fully corresponded to her ideological orientation and her enormous organizational abilities (this is evidenced by the material of her book). But, most importantly, and her main vital interest in keeping Landau with her. But she could lose him in the following cases: 1) Landau's departure abroad and his non-return; 2) divorce her.

The first case is hypothetical, but it became a little more real during the Khrushchev thaw, when, for example, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov himself went abroad (the report of the KGB agent about the inadmissibility of Landau's travel abroad coincides with this time). The second case is much more real (see Landau's letter to his wife dated August 23, 1945 about his intention to divorce Kora; a copy of the letter was kept by E.M. Lifshitz and published in the journal "Teaching Physics in Higher School" (2000, # 18) What about unspoken control?

MORAL MOTIVES

Can we assume that in the described case, it simply did not occur to the authorities to resort to the most effective possible option - to the "help" of Landau's wife? Or that they would refrain from doing so for some reasons, for example, ethical (!)? (Please note that I am only describing the situation, circumstantial evidence and documents, and identifying questions. It would be interesting to know the thoughts of our readers as well.) So, the version that Kora was never offered cooperation with the authorities seems to me absolutely incredible. (The fact that this was done and how it was done in relation to other people who were part of Landau's entourage, although they were standing away from him, see below). So, it remains only to assume that Cora resolutely rejected such a proposal. From purely moral motives, for example. If anyone wants to think that way...

Moral motives are a delicate matter. Of course, they must be taken into account when constructing a logical circuit. Therefore, we present the following striking fact, which speaks precisely of the moral side of the relationship in the Landau family. It is attested by such authoritative people as Academicians V.L. Ginzburg, E.M. Lifshitz, Yu.M. Kagan, writer and journalist Yaroslav Golovanov. I will quote Yaroslav Golovanov: “After the disaster, Landau’s bark was never in the hospital for about a month (according to the physicists and medical staff on duty, about two months - B.G.), because she believed that Landau would die anyway. Not his son Igor also came to the hospital. Dau, along with the doctors, was cared for by physicists. Kagan was one of the permanent attendants at the hospital. Most of all, Dau was treated by Lifshitz, whom Kora hated ... and understood that if Landau regained consciousness, then Lifshitz would the rights of an old friend will open his eyes to Cora." ("Komsomolskaya Pravda", March 2, 2000).

And here is evidence of how the recruitment (in this case, unsuccessful) took place at that time in order to obtain operational information about Landau and Lifshitz. The following fragment was written by my mother, Zinaida Ivanovna Gorobets-Lifshitz (surname after her first husband - Ratner).

“In May 1952, in the seventh year of my work as the head of the library of the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, I was suddenly given a summons to appear in the personnel department of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At first I was simply surprised: why would I be needed there, but then I became alarmed. Various rumors circulated among my acquaintances about this institution. My premonition was justified. The head of the personnel department (I remember his last name - Yakovenko) kindly met me in his office and instantly disappeared. Simultaneously, two people unknown to me came out of two different doors, as I guessed, employees MGB, they sat down at the table, they sat me opposite and began to ask questions.They asked if I went to the Riga seaside in the early summer of 1951 in a car with E.M. Lifshitz (E.M.).I answered yes, together with E.M. and A.I. Shalnikov for two weeks to the dacha rented by the Shalnikov family.When asked why E.M. Lifshitz went with us, I answered exactly what was: he went to rent a dacha for his family, stayed there for four days and left for M osc. Let me explain that, starting from 1948, we really spent our annual vacation together with my future second husband, E.M. Lifshitz. At the same time, my then husband S.B. Ratner, and wife E.M. Lifshitz E.K. Berezovskaya knew about this and perceived the current situation as a reality. I do not want to dwell on the details of the personal life of either ours or our then spouses. Besides, it would lead away from the main theme of the story. That's how our life was in those years. It is important to note that in the summer of 1952, together with us and E.M. Landau also went south. So, I will continue the retelling of the episode.

When asked if my husband knew about this trip, I replied that, of course, he did. After that, vague questions began with hints that they needed some kind of my help. I immediately understood what kind of "help" it was, and made a firm decision not to agree to anything. But she pretended that I did not have enough intelligence and asked what kind of help they were talking about. They would never tell me directly what my "help" should be. Finally, I got tired of this verbal duel and told them directly that I had an insight - I guessed it. Immediately they "death grip" dug into me so that I could say what I guessed. But I replied that if they did not want to tell me directly what was expected of me, then I also had the right not to tell them about my guess.

Threats began, they said that it would be bad for me, my husband and children if I did not agree to help them. But I didn't give up. Finally, they, too, got tired of "crushing water in a mortar", and they put a page of typed text in front of me about my refusal, that I would never tell anyone where I was and what the conversation was about.

Thank God, the one and a half hour "conversation" came to an end, and I promised not to tell anyone except my husband about it. I purposely told them that I would consult with my husband (and, by the way, I did this on the same day, and then I also told E.M. about this, from whom Landau later learned about this recruitment attempt). I wanted to somehow "repay" for their provocative question about her husband, asked at the beginning of the conversation, to make it clear that their blackmail does not work here. When I uttered these words, one of the employees of the MGB again began to threaten me and my entire family. But I stood my ground: supposedly I don’t understand why I can’t consult my husband about such a significant event, from whom, in principle, I don’t have anything that I couldn’t discuss with him. In the end, I signed the proposed paper refusing to disclose the contents of this conversation.

Punishment for non-cooperation followed quickly. When Academician Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov (director of the IPP at the time when P.L. Kapitsa was in disgrace) returned to the institute after a summer vacation, he summoned me to his office. Very softly and sympathetically, he said that he was forced to fire me, because for reasons unknown to him they could not give me the "secret form", which is now required for the head. library (?!). And even promised to help in finding a new job. In the autumn of 1952 I was dismissed from the Institute of Physical Problems. It was just in the midst of the "doctors' case" and work was not easy to find. But here I was lucky, I did not stay long without work. I was offered new job secretary of the party bureau of the Central Library of the USSR Academy of Sciences (her last name is Orlova, but I don’t remember her initials), she was known as a very sympathetic person. Orlova offered me the position of head. Library of the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. When I asked if secrecy was required there, she waved her hand and said that it was not required. From January 1953 I started working at the Institute of Ethnography.

LANDAU

IN AND. Boyarintsev

In S. A. Fridman's book "Jews - Nobel Prize Laureates", in particular, it is written: "Landau (Landau) Lev Davidovich (1908-1968) - theoretical physicist, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor." And the "Pocket Jewish Encyclopedia" (edited by Mikhail Chlenov, Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix", 1999) says that the surname Landau comes from the name of a city in Lorraine.

Further brief biographical information is drawn from the two-volume A.N. Shchukin "The Most Famous People of Russia" (M., "Veche", 1999), the collection D.K. Samina "One Hundred Great Scientists" (M., "Veche", 2000) and from the book by Kora Landau-Drobantseva "Academician Landau (How We Lived)", Moscow, 2000. The latter are also used below pet names and nicknames.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Lev Landau was born into a wealthy Jewish family of oil engineer David Lvovich Landau. His parents were widely educated people and paid much attention to the upbringing of their children. Little Leo and his older sister Sophia had a French governess, teachers of music, rhythm and drawing came to the house. But Leo's only passion from early childhood was mathematics.

Landau did not have time to graduate from the gymnasium - the revolution prevented him, and after the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan in 1920, he entered the Baku Commercial School, in 1922 he passed the exams at Baku University, from where he transferred to the Physics and Mathematics Department of Leningrad University in 1924.

In 1927, he presented the article "On the Theory of the Spectra of Diatomic Molecules" as a diploma work, and entered the graduate school of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology.

From 1929 to 1931 Landau was on a scientific mission in Germany, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.

There he met with the founders of the new quantum mechanics, of whom Niels Bohr had the strongest influence on him.

"In 1931, he headed the theoretical department of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkov. In 1934, the USSR Academy of Sciences awarded him the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences without defending a dissertation. A year later, he was already a professor. Thanks to Landau and his student and colleague Yevgeny Lifshits, Kharkov became a leading scientific center" ("Jews - Nobel Prize winners").

"In communication, Landau was a very rough, uncompromising and in many ways uncomfortable person. According to Ginzburg, "he had plenty of enemies ..." Landau was fired from his job "for pushing through bourgeois installations in lectures" ("One Hundred Great Russians").

But at the beginning of 1937 he was invited to Moscow, where he began to work at the Institute of Physical Problems with Pyotr Kapitsa, and in the spring of 1938, together with two young physicists, he wrote a leaflet that began with the words: "Comrades! The great cause of the October Revolution has been vilely betrayed ... "... As Landau later admitted, the leaflet was intended for distribution on May 1, but caught the eye of the Moscow Chekists a few weeks before the holiday. In April 1938, Landau and his friends were arrested.

Pyotr Kapitsa sent a letter with a request to release Landau personally to Stalin. Trying to justify his ward, he recognized his shortcomings: "... One should take into account Landau's character, which, simply put, is bad. He is a bully and a bully, loves" to look for mistakes in others, and when he finds them, especially among important elders, begins to tease irreverently. By doing this, he has made? many enemies ... ". ("One Hundred Great Russians").

In November, Niels Bohr also wrote a letter to I.V. Stalin. In April 1939, Landau was released under the personal guarantee of Kapitsa.

Together with P. L. Kapitsa, Landau conducts research on the appearance of superfluidity.

"Superfluidity is a complex of physical phenomena that take place in liquid helium at very low temperatures close to absolute zero. In liquid helium cooled to 2.18 degrees Kelvin, an abrupt change in properties occurs ..." ("Small Soviet Encyclopedia").

This physical phenomenon was discovered by P. L. Kapitsa in 1938, and these studies were started by him at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge (England) with the creation in 1934 of a plant for liquefying helium. In 1978, Kapitsa was awarded the Nobel Prize "for fundamental inventions and discoveries in the field of low temperature physics."

In 1940-1941, Landau worked on the creation of the theory of superfluidity of liquid helium and the theory of quantum liquid, later completed work on the creation of the theory of electron plasma oscillations, and took part in the creation of the atomic bomb in the USSR.

In 1935, together with E.M. Lifshitz, he created a course in physics, which was revised and republished for a number of years, for which the authors were awarded the Lenin Prize in 1962.

In 1940, Landau married Concordia (Kora) Drobantseva. “Only after that did he find himself surrounded by comfort and attention, which he did not have for many years of his bachelor life. In general, Landau was surprisingly indifferent to household trifles, primarily to clothes and food ... Only after the wedding, when his wife began to order him suits from the best tailors, he is accustomed to expensive and elegant things..." ("One Hundred Great Russians").

Landau's scientific activity in subsequent years was associated with the Kapitsa Institute for Physical Problems. In 1946 he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences (bypassing the stage of corresponding member).

His wife describes her impressions of Landau's election as an academician: "I did not feel joy. For the first time, I experienced the fear of losing him. There are so many young, beautiful girls, but I have a disease - my legs do not walk ...".

Landau's teaching activities resumed in the 1940s.

"... Almost all of Landau's works were written in co-authorship, this was his peculiarity; being fluent in oral speech, he expressed his thoughts on paper with great difficulty. It is known that even those articles that appeared under his one name were written for him by Lifshitz ..." ("One Hundred Great Russians").

"The first decade after the war, life raced. Everyone was in a hurry to live, making up for lost time," and Landau visited restaurants, because, in his words, "you can't master a beautiful girl without a restaurant." To which his wife remarked to him: "You always said that you like to go to the cinema with undeveloped girls." The academician replied: "Cinemas are simply created to take undeveloped girls there! It's so convenient to squeeze them there. But some girls don't want to go to the cinema, they want to go to restaurants ...".

For health reasons, after a car accident, Landau was unable to travel to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize awarded "for the fundamental theories of condensed matter, especially liquid helium."

In addition to the Nobel and Lenin Prizes, Landau was awarded three Stalin Prizes, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, the Max Planck Medal, and the Fritz London Prize.

DOW AND KORA ABOUT YOURSELF

Landau said (see the memoirs of his wife): “As a child, my father persistently inspired me that nothing good could come of me. I was so afraid that he would turn out to be right! By this he pretty much spoiled my childhood. was close to suicide.

Father - David Lvovich - "mining engineer high class", mother - Lyubov Veniaminovna -" a physician - a physiologist, later a professor with his works and a name in his field of science. "" In the family of the chief engineer of the oil fields of the city of Baku, Sonechka became a father's daughter, and Levushka completely belonged to her mother. "

Wow, who was your father?

He's a bore. He is still there!

How boring?

Well, just the most boring bore, he makes me sad

Kora wrote: “My father died of typhus in 1918. I was not yet eight years old! Convinced of my father’s death, my mother (Tatyana Ivanovna - V.B.) lost consciousness, her throat bled. She lay motionless for a year Vera began a process in her lungs, and Nadia was four years old ... ".

Concordia Drobantseva studied at Kharkov University, in her last year she married a childhood friend, but “six months later I could hardly bear him ... we parted without tragedies ....

At the graduation party (1933) at the University, she met Landau, who had been teaching at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Kharkov University for two years. "He stunned with the immediate clarity of the child and the maturity of his thinking, striving to unravel the secrets of nature through the most complex mathematical arguments, peculiar only to him alone, a true pioneer in science. The latter I understood many years later.".

After graduating from the university, Concordia worked in the chocolate shop of a confectionery factory, which taught her to do daily gymnastics to maintain her figure. "His words:" Korusha, what could be more beautiful than a beautiful young woman! ".

While in Kharkov, Kora "really wanted Dau to become a communist, in those distant young Komsomol years I had a firm conviction: only small people like Zhenya Lifshitz, alien to our Soviet ideology, should remain outside the party, outside the Komsomol. This was in the early thirties .".

Shortly after meeting, to the question: “Why don’t you join the party?”, Lev Landau answered: “They don’t like me. They won’t accept me. I only tell the truth, I’m not from a tribe of heroes, I have many shortcomings ...”. In this regard, I recall an anecdote of the war years, when the political instructor, having risen from the trench, shouted: “Forward, eagles!”, To which two soldiers, remaining sitting in the trench, answered: “We are not eagles, we are lions - Lev Moiseevich and Lev Solomonovich! ".

"During my student days in Kharkov, I heard from a friend about Yevgeny Lifshitz. He was quoted as a profitable groom ...". He was the son of a famous medical professor, lived in "a splendid mansion... where "every thing is an antique value."

After Landau and Kora visited this mansion, to the question of how she liked Zhenya, whom Landau consulted "on all domestic issues", Kora replied: "Daunka, dear, could you really consult with this nit, how need to kiss me?"

The romance lasted five years, until Landau called her to Moscow already as his wife, although until that moment in matters of marriage he held the following views: “The most beautiful word is“ mistress ”. marriage. Marriage is a seal on bad things!"

Concordia Landau describes this event and some of the actions preceding it this way: “Korusha, I haven’t changed my views, but I haven’t seen you for a whole year. And now every day without you is a lost day! And the justification for marriage is that we were lovers for five years - a solid period. And I'm falling in love with you more and more. Quickly arrange your affairs and come to me in Moscow, already as a wife!

By this time, "he had elaborated his most 'brilliant' (as he called it) theoretical work and called it 'How to Live Right', or 'Non-Aggression Marriage Pact'. This 'pact' provided complete freedom, as he understood it, to for myself and for me. I couldn't say no...".

At times, Cora doubted, fearing that "a malicious human prejudice - jealousy" was sitting in her. “In addition, there was one more trouble: the same Zhenya (Lifshitz - V.B.), for whom, apart from contempt, one cannot have other feelings, got married and impudently settled with Dau in Moscow, in his five-room apartment. Together with his wife and housekeeper."

The sudden arrival of Landau in Kharkov destroyed all doubts, especially since Dau promised: “If you don’t like that they live with us, then I will have a reason to evict them ... In the meantime, they are very useful to me, they feed me .. .". The move to Moscow took place in 1940, and the Lifshits were evicted about a year later. “When my son was born, I left my job. I had two babies in my arms. My son grew up promising to become an adult, but Daunka was an eternal baby

CHERENKOV EFFECT

In 1958, the Nobel Prize was awarded to three Soviet scientists - Cherenkov P.A., Frank I.M. and Tamm I.E. "for the discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect". Sometimes in the literature this effect is called the "Cherenkov-Vavilov effect" ("Polytechnic Dictionary", Moscow, 1980).

It consists in the following: it is "radiation of light (other than luminescent), arising from the movement of charged particles in a substance, when their speed exceeds the phase velocity of light in this medium. It is used in counters of charged particles (Cherenkov counters)". In this case, a legitimate question arises: is it not strange that one author and two interpreters of this discovery receive a prize for the discovery of the effect? The answer to this question is contained in the book by Kora Landau-Drobantseva "Academician Landau".

"So I.E. Tamm, through Landau's "fault", received the Nobel Prize at the expense of Cherenkov: Dau received a request from the Nobel Committee regarding the "Cherenkov Effect" ...

A little reference - Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1970, member of the Bureau of the Department of Nuclear Physics, showed back in 1934 that when a fast charged particle moves in a completely pure liquid or solid dielectric, a special glow arises, fundamentally different from fluorescent glow, and from bremsstrahlung of the X-ray continuous spectrum type. In the 1970s P.A. Cherenkov worked at the Physical Institute. P.I.Lebedev Academy of Sciences of the USSR (FIAN).

“Dau explained to me this way: “It is unfair to give such a noble prize, which should be awarded to the outstanding minds of the planet, to one cudgel Cherenkov, who has not done anything serious in science. He worked in the laboratory of Frank-Kamenetsky in Leningrad. His boss is a legitimate co-author. Their Institute was advised by Muscovite I.E. Tamm. It just needs to be added to the two legitimate candidates (highlighted by me - V.B.).

Let us add that, according to the testimonies of students who listened to Landau's lectures at that time, to the question asked him: who is the number one physicist, he answered: "Tamm is the second."

“You see, Korusha, Igor Evgenievich Tamm is a very good person. Everyone loves him, he does a lot of useful things for technology, but, to my great regret, all his works in science exist until I read them. If it weren’t for me "Yes, his mistakes would not be discovered. He always agrees with me, but he gets very upset. I brought him too much grief in our short life. He is just a wonderful person. Co-authorship in the Nobel Prize will simply make him happy."

In introducing the Nobel Prize winners, Manne Sigban, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recalled that although Cherenkov "established the general properties of the newly discovered radiation, there was no mathematical description of this phenomenon." Tamm and Frank's work, he went on to say, provided "an explanation that, in addition to simplicity and clarity, also satisfied rigorous mathematical requirements."

But as early as 1905, Sommerfeld, in fact, even before Cherenkov's discovery of this phenomenon, gave his theoretical prediction. He wrote about the appearance of radiation when an electron moves in a vacuum with superluminal speed. But due to the established opinion that the speed of light in a vacuum cannot be exceeded by any material particle, this work of Sommerfeld was recognized as erroneous, although the situation when an electron moves faster than the speed of light in a medium, as shown by Chereshkov, is quite possible.

Igor Evgenievich Tamm, apparently, did not feel satisfaction from receiving the Nobel Prize for the Cherenkov effect: "as Igor Evgenievich himself admitted, it would be much more pleasant for him to receive an award for another scientific result - the exchange theory of nuclear forces" ("One Hundred Great Scientists"). Apparently, the courage for such a recognition took its origins from his father, who "during Jewish pogrom in Elizavetgrad ... one went to the crowd of Black Hundreds with a cane and dispersed it "(" One Hundred Great Scientists ").

"Subsequently, during Tamm's lifetime, at one of the general meetings of the Academy of Sciences, one academician publicly accused him of unfairly appropriating someone else's piece of the Nobel Prize." (Landau-Drobantsev bark).

The passages quoted above suggest a number of reflections:

If in this situation Landau and Cherenkov were to be swapped, saying about the "club of Landau", this would be perceived as a manifestation of extreme anti-Semitism, here one can speak of Landau as an extreme Russophobe.

Academician Landau behaves like a scientific representative of God on earth, deciding who to reward for personal devotion to himself, who to punish.

Answering his wife's question: "Would you agree to accept part of this prize, like Tamm?", the academician said: "... firstly, all my real works have no co-authors, and secondly, many of my works have long deserved the Nobel Prize award, thirdly, if I publish my works with co-authors, then this co-authorship is more necessary for my co-authors ... ".

Saying such words, the academician, as they now say, was somewhat cunning, which will be seen from what follows.

And another interesting episode described by Landau's wife: "Dau, why did you expel Vovka Levich from your students? Did you quarrel with him forever? - Yes, I" anathematized " him. You see, I arranged him for Frumkin, whom I considered honest "Vovka did a decent job on his own, I know. But in the press this work appeared with the signatures of Frumkin and Levich, and Frumkin promoted Levich to a member of the correspondent. A certain bargaining took place. I also stopped greeting Frumkin ...".

If we try to combine the episode with the forced co-authorship of the "Cherenkov Effect" with the last episode of Frumkin-Levich, then the question arises whether Academician Landau was offended by "Vovka" because he received the title of Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences from the hands of Frumkin, and not from Landau "himself"? Moreover, as can be seen from the comparison and from the texts cited here, Landau could not be bothered by the problems of false co-authorship.

Landau said: "... When I die, then the Lenin Committee will definitely award the Lenin Prize posthumously ...".

“Dau was awarded the Lenin Prize when he had not yet died, but was dying. But not for scientific discoveries. He was given Zhenya as a companion and was awarded the Lenin Prize for a course of books on theoretical physics, although this work was not completed then, there was not enough two volumes...

Here, however, not all is well either. So, if we recall that in the study of Marxism it was said about three sources of it, so in this case three sources of theoretical physics were widely used: the first - Whittaker "Analytical Dynamics", published in Russian in 1937, the second - "Course of Theoretical Physics " A. Sommerfeld, the third - "Atomic spectra and the structure of the atom" by the same author.

Landau and Vlasov

Surname Vlasov A.A. (1908-1975), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, author of the dispersion equation on plasma theory, is difficult to find in the general educational literature, now a mention of this scientist has appeared in the new encyclopedia, somewhere in four or five lines.

In M. Kovrov's article "Landau and Others" ("Tomorrow" No. 17, 2000), the author writes: "In the reputable scientific journal Plasma Physics, an article was published by leading experts in this field A.F. Aleksandrov and A.A. Rukhadze "On the History of Fundamental Works on the Kinetic Theory of Plasma" This is the story.

In the 1930s, Landau derived the plasma kinetic equation, which was to be called the Landau equation in the future. At the same time, Vlasov pointed out its incorrectness: it was derived under the assumption of a gaseous approximation, that is, that the particles are in free flight most of the time and only occasionally collide, but "a system of charged particles is essentially not a gas, but a kind of system pulled together by distant forces "; the interaction of a particle with all plasma particles by means of the electromagnetic fields created by them is the main interaction, while the pair interactions considered by Landau should be taken into account only as small corrections.

I quote the mentioned article: "Vlasov first introduced ... the concept of the dispersion equation and found its solution", "obtained using this equation, including primarily by Vlasov himself, the results formed the basis of the modern kinetic theory of plasma", Vlasov's merits "are recognized by the entire world scientific community, which approved in the scientific literature the name of the kinetic equation with a self-consistent field as the Vlasov equation. Every year, hundreds and hundreds of papers on plasma theory are published in the world scientific press, and in every second, at least, the name of Vlasov is pronounced "".

“Only narrow specialists with a good memory remember the existence of the erroneous Landau equation.

However, Alexandrov and Rukhadze write, even now “the appearance in 1949 (below in the text M. Kovrov notes that this article actually refers to 1946 - V.B.) is puzzling, a work that sharply criticized Vlasov, moreover, essentially unreasonable."

The bewilderment is caused by the fact that in this work (authors V.L. Ginzburg, L.D. Landau, M.A. Leontovich, V.A. Fok) nothing is said about the fundamental monograph by N.N. Bogolyubov in 1946, which by that time had received universal recognition and was often cited in the literature, where the Vlasov equation and its justification already appeared in the form in which it is now known.

"There are no excerpts from Ginzburg et al. in the article by Alexandrov and Rukhadze, but they are curious: "the application of the self-consistent field method" leads to conclusions that contradict the simple and indisputable consequences of classical statistics", a little lower - "the application of the self-consistent field method leads (as we now show) to results whose physical irregularity is already visible in itself"; "we leave aside here the mathematical errors of A.A. Vlasov, made by him in solving equations and leading him to the conclusion about the existence of a "dispersion equation" (the same one that today is the basis of modern plasma theory). After all, if they bring these texts, then it turns out that Landau and Ginzburg do not understand the simple and indisputable consequences of classical physics, not to mention mathematics.

M. Kovrov says that Alexandrov and Rukhadze.! "they proposed calling the Vlasov equation the Vlasov-Landau equation. On the basis that Vlasov himself believed that the pair interactions considered by Landau, although as small corrections, should be taken into account, completely forgetting about the persecution organized by Landau" Vlasov. "And only an accidental car accident changed the situation: after the death of Landau in 1968, the general public saw in the lists of laureates of the Lenin Prize in 1970 the unknown name of Vlasov ...".

The author also quotes from Landau: "Consideration of the indicated works of Vlasov led us to the conviction of their complete inconsistency and the absence of any results in them that have scientific value ... there is no" dispersion equation ".

M. Kovrov writes: "In 1946, two of the authors of the devastating work directed against Vlasov were elected academicians, the third received the Stalin Prize. Ginzburg's services will not be forgotten: later he will also become an academician and people's deputy of the USSR from the USSR Academy of Sciences."

Here again the question arises: if you were in the place of Vlasov, say, Abramovich, and in the place of Ginzburg, Landau, Leontovich, Fock, say, Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov, Alekseev, then how would such persecution be perceived by the "progressive public"? The answer is simple - as a manifestation of extreme anti-Semitism and "inciting ethnic hatred."

M. Kovrov concludes: "... In 1946, an attempt was made to completely seize key positions in science by Jews, which led to its degradation and the almost complete destruction of the scientific environment ...".

However, by the 60s and 70s, the situation improved somewhat and it turned out that literate people sat on the committee for awarding the Lenin Prizes: Landau received the prize not for scientific achievements, but for the creation of a series of textbooks, and Vlasov for achievements in science!

But, as M. Kovrov notes, "The Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences bears the name of Landau, not Vlasov." And that, as Jewish scientists like to say, is a medical fact!

A close acquaintance with the attitude of Academician Landau to other people's work reveals an interesting detail - he was very jealous and negative about other people's scientific achievements. So in 1957, for example, speaking at the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University, Landau stated that Dirac had lost his understanding of theoretical physics, and his critical and ironic attitude to the generally accepted theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus, developed by D.D. Ivanenko, was also widely known among theoretical physicists .

Note that Paul Dirac formulated the laws of quantum statistics, developed the relativistic theory of electron motion, on the basis of which the existence of the positron was predicted. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1933 for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.

LANDAU AND THE ATOMIC BOMB

Kora Landau describes her husband's participation in the creation of the atomic bomb as follows: "It was the time when ... Kurchatov headed these works. He had a powerful talent as an organizer. The first thing he did was to make a list of the physicists he needed. "D. Landau. In those years, only Landau alone could make a theoretical calculation for the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And he did it with great responsibility and with a clear conscience. He said: "We cannot allow America alone to possess the weapon of the devil!" And yet, Dau was Dau! He set a condition for Kurchatov, who was powerful in those days: “I will calculate the bomb, I will do everything, but I will come to your meetings in extremely necessary cases. All my materials on the calculation will be brought to you by Dr. Ya.B. Zel'dovich, and Zel'dovich will also sign my calculations. This is technology, and my calling is science."

As a result, Landau received one star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, while Zeldovich and Sakharov received three each.

And further: “A.D. Sakharov took up military technology, and he got the first hydrogen bomb for the death of mankind! A paradox arose - the author of the hydrogen bomb was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace! How can mankind combine the hydrogen bomb and peace?

Yes, A.D. Sakharov is very good, honest, kind, talented. All this is so! But why did the talented physicist trade science for politics? When he created the hydrogen bomb, no one interfered in his affairs! Already in the second half of the seventies, I spoke with a talented physicist, academician, student of Landau: "Tell me: if Sakharov is one of the most talented theoretical physicists, why did he never visit Landau?" They answered me: "Sakharov is a student of I.E. Tamm. He, like Tamm, was engaged in technical calculations ... But Sakharov and Landau had nothing to talk about, he was a physicist-technician, mainly worked for military equipment."

What happened to Sakharov when he made this ill-fated bomb? His kind, subtle soul broke down, there was a psychological breakdown. A kind, honest person turned out to be an evil devilish toy. There is something to climb the wall. And his wife, the mother of his children, also died.

DAU AND ZHENKA (LANDAU AND LIFSHITZ)

Kora wrote: “Once I asked Dau: “Why do you write your volumes only with Zhenya ...? - "Korusha, ... I tried with others, but nothing worked ... when I dictate my books on physics to Zhenya, he unquestioningly writes everything down. His brain is the brain of a competent clerk, he is not capable of independent creative thinking ... Creative he did not turn out to be a worker, but he is educated, neat, precise and hardworking, he turned out to be a co-author. Instead of a salary, I give him my ideas, he needs to have his own face in society. Thanks to his help, I was able to create good books on physics for posterity. ..".

Here we are talking about Lifshitz E.M. (1915-1985), Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences since 1979 - Landau's constant co-author. "To help his students, Landau in 1935 created a comprehensive course of theoretical physics, published by him and Lifshitz in the form of a series of textbooks, the content of which the authors revised and updated over the next twenty years ..." ("One Hundred Great Scientists").

And Kora continues: “In my presence, physicists (as she calls Landau’s colleagues and students - V.B.) said at our house: “Dow, for the work that Zhenya does for you, you only have to express your opinion to him in the preface of the next volume. gratitude - this is what all our academicians do - and not to make him their co-author. After all, for his work he has a very generous payment - your ideas! And such that, look, he will soon fall into a member of the corporal.

Note: when the future academician - E.M. Lifshitz ran for corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Landau protested against the nomination, but Lifshitz was elected.

"Students of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University in those years about the course of theoretical * physics Landau - Lifshitz said this: "In these books there is not a single word written by Landau's hand, and there is not a single thought of Lifshitz" ".

Lifshitz explained his many years of collaboration with Landau as follows: "It was not easy for him to write even an article outlining his own (without co-authors!) scientific work, and all such articles were written for him by others for many years ..." ("One Hundred Great Scientists) .

Kora wrote about the habits of Yevgeny Lifshitz: “Yevgeny Mikhailovich inherited the habit of saving money from his father, a doctor. medical care free, my sons will become scientists"".

Lev Davidovich Landau. Mafia in science: An example of a mockery of an engineer - I.M. Rapoport "Vibrations of an elastic shell partially filled with liquid", M., 1967. "The book is intended for scientists and engineers." Engineers, try to calculate something using these formulas!

"Dau always said:" Zhenya is not a physicist. His younger brother Ilya is a physicist. "I quote the words of Dau:" An amazing variety of the Lifshitz brothers. Zhenya is smart, he is vitally smart, but no talent. Absolutely incapable of creative thinking. In life, Ilya is a fool, a fool, he collects stamps, all the time from childhood on the occasion of Zhenya, but a very talented physicist. His independent work is brilliant.

“When Landau decided that Ilya Lifshitz should become a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences for his work, he made every effort and Ilya Lifshitz from Kharkov was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

I quote Topchiev's words: "As soon as the result of the vote for Ilya Lifshitz was received, I approached Landau and asked: "Lev Davidovich, in the next elections we will probably elect Lifshitz's elder brother?"

Lev Davidovich laughed and said: "No, Alexander Vasilievich, we will never elect the elder brother Lifshitz as a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR." And if Landau had remained alive, Lifshitz would never have become an academician.

After Concordia moved to Moscow, the Lifshits (Zhenka and Lelya - Kora's terminology) lived together in Landau's apartment for about a year, where Lelin's research supervisor in graduate school, Rapoport, regularly visited. Dau said about this situation: "... while Zhenya is with us upstairs, Lelya is given herself to her supervisor downstairs ... Zhenya and Lelya have a very, very cultured marriage. Without jealousy and without any prejudice. This is what I taught Zhenya how to live right...

“E.M. Lifshitz’s complete unsuitability for science, the Centaur (nickname of Kapitsa - see the section“ Dow - the joker ”- V.B.) knows perfectly well, nevertheless he dragged him into academicians in 1979, because he is useful to him, able to stand at attention...

Maya Bessarab, the niece of Landau's wife, wrote in the afterword to Kora's book entitled "Strokes to the Portrait of Kora Landau, My Aunt": ". This is when, after a car accident, scandals began between his wife Cora and Dow's co-author, Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz.

Realizing that the enmity between Kora and Lifshitz began much earlier, Bessarab, according to Kora, describes the case of beating her co-author of her husband, whom she accused of embezzling Landau's money.

DOW - JOKER

"Somehow, after returning to Leningrad, the first of April was approaching. An employee of our institute published his scientific work. I read it - absurdity. I am writing to Bor in Copenhagen to send a telegram to our institute addressed to this employee with the expectation that the telegram arrives at the institute on April 1 , with the content: The Nobel Committee became interested in the scientific discovery of such and such.Urgently asked to send four copies of the work, photos, etc. etc. The unfortunate "great scientist" ran around to take pictures in the morning, urged everyone to read Bohr's international telegram. happiness, with a smug smile, he was sealing a huge envelope when Landau, who approached him, announced to his victim about the April Fool's joke" (wrote Cora).

Apparently, having learned the lessons of his best friend, Lifshitz liked to play a joke on Dau, which for some reason did not please Kora, who described one of such cases in this way: ..., having flown up to Zhenya, I slapped him resoundingly in the face, saying: "Don't dare to make a fool out of Dau!"... And Dau said: "Cora is right. I'm tired of your stupid jokes. Now you have learned, I hope they will not be repeated again?

What would the joker Landau say at one time if he received appropriate gratitude as a result of his "April Fool's" joke, but only from a man?

Landau's wife describes another joke of her husband. The first employee of the residential building at the Kapitsa Institute was Alexander Iosifovich Shalnikov, whom Academician Abram Isaakovich Alikhanov asked: "Shurochka, tell me, your new boss, who is he? A man or a beast?" - "He is a centaur. You will come up from the wrong end, he will kick, and how!" "The nickname stuck. All the physicists all these years, speaking among themselves about Kapitsa, called him only the Centaur."

"Yes, the Centaur saved Landau's life... But if some foreign theorist could explain the superfluidity of helium, Landau would not have been released from prison. After all, the Centaur remembered Landau when all the physicists of the world were at an impasse... Landau's words, and in another place: "A centaur is a centaur! Half man, half beast. All the leading physicists of the Soviet Union have long agreed with this. "From these statements it is clear that the gratitude of the Landau family to their benefactor knew no bounds!

The 50th anniversary of Kapitsa was approaching, and the employees, together with Landau, began to think about a gift. "At one of these moments, Olga Alekseevna Stetskaya, Kapitsa's deputy, came to us. Physicists did not like her, they called her Stervetskaya ...", and everyone unanimously suggested that Kapitsa be presented with a bronze centaur on a marble pedestal. When such a gift was presented, the hero of the day became furious, "he slurred:" How dare you!

And in conclusion, the description of the episode is followed by the words: "The centaur did not appreciate the joke of the physicists, he appreciated his own joke very much. Everything is possible for him, but not for others!". Remember the well-known: "What to consider gossips to work, isn't it better to turn on yourself, godfather!".

"NON-AGGRESSION MARRIAGE PACT"

"His logical thinking, based on a very wide erudition, his illustrious universalism in science, is also reflected in his views on human relations. Hence the theory of how to live right, and the marriage pact of non-aggression. Jealousy encroaches on inner freedom, destroys human dignity, jealousy is a vice that has nothing to do with love. And he completely excluded this vice from his own consciousness "(K. Landau-Drobantseva).

"He began to prepare me for this pact back in 1937, when he moved from Kharkov to Moscow."

It should be noted that Landau formulated his attitude towards women even earlier. So in 1932, during a vacation in Bolshevo, when Landau and Pontryagin met, the first told Pontryagin about his division of women into five classes, which Pontryagin, being a normal person, could not remember in his Biography.

"Dau considered his theory" how to properly build his personal life for a man "an outstanding theory ..."

“The second year has gone since I became Dau’s wife. He is still in love with me, he still promises that he will soon have new mistresses ... he said: “... You don’t have to make lovers ... So don't you have such a great feeling? Enough for only one legal husband? This, Korushka, is nonsense! It was forgivable when we were lovers ... You listen to you, you will simply be horrified. What would poor men do if all wives were faithful?!...".

On July 14, 1946, a boy, Igor, was born in the Landau family. Even before the birth of a child, in fact, a non-aggression marriage pact entered into life, which provided husband and wife with equal rights in choosing, as they would now say, sexual partners. A pact prohibiting jealousy and introducing a system of fines for unfavorable comments about their lovers and mistresses. But, if Kora was fined, then there is no information that Landau was ever fined by her in her memoirs.

As Kora wrote about the postpartum period of her life: “With weight gain, on swollen legs, I tried to walk, it was unbearably painful. Physical pain can be overcome, but how to overcome that inner violent aching pain in the heart that is caused by jealousy. I kept repeating to myself: I have no right to be jealous, especially now that I'm ill and fat! And Daunka is still the same: light, graceful, infinitely cheerful. He has every right to admire the beauty of young, healthy women. And how can he admire and love the beautiful young female body - I know it!".

Once Cora asked her husband: "What kind of girl did you have?" - "Oh! It's from the radio. She came to interview me. Then she got hot, she asked me to unfasten her bra and so easily, without any delay, she gave herself to me."

Further, Landau's wife writes: "Everything is known in comparison. When Hera appeared, I was touched by Vera's tact. Vera did not come to Dow's house. And I did not experience painful hours ... But when this Irina Rybnikova appeared from the radio, I belatedly appreciated Hera's dignity. Hera didn't use the bathroom, behaved quietly. She wanted to marry Dow without scandals. It didn't work out. And she married with dignity. From the first visits, Irina decided to cause a scandal between me and Dow... It seemed to me that I had squeamish feeling even towards Dow."

But Dau explained: "My beloved girl is you. To this" Irina, I did not say the word "love." I could not be rude to the girl if she came with the goal of giving herself to me.

"Dau was right: jealousy is malicious cruelty, envy and vindictiveness without limit, jealousy was in contradiction with the "Non-Aggression Marriage Pact". The personal freedom of a real person begins at home!"

From the stories of the academician to his wife after the next “publication”: “Korusha, horror! I rude the girl ... Imagine, a very pretty girl. little, but just zero. Well, I ran away from her, like from a Frog, without even saying goodbye. And now I'm biting myself!...". At the same time, Korusha says nothing about how she comforted her poor husband.

But the “pact” developed by him, Landau, was also strenuously implementing the families of relatives and friends: “You see, Korusha, Zhenya really asks me for one room in the country. V.B.), love in the car has become dangerous ... ". To this, Kora replied: “...Daunka, wouldn’t it be too fat for their family: Zigush S Lelya (Zigush is the husband of Landau’s sister Sonya, and Lelya is Lifshitz’s wife V.B.) in our apartment, and now Zhenya and Gorobets will settle in our dacha? - Korusha, you can feel the vicious hiss of a snake in your voice ... Who can prevent the arrival of Zhenya and Zinochka for two or three hours twice a week? ... ".

When the daughter of Zigush and Sonya grew up, she also began to come to the dacha with her lover, but she and her father came at different times. Cora wrote: "Ella will leave - Zigush will arrive. What to do: Everyone has love, everyone has novels, and I have to serve them! And I felt sick!"

For her objections, in accordance with the "pact", Kora was fined 1,000 rubles (from the next fee for books), she wrote: "The fine was calculated in full. But I could not rid the dacha of Zhenya ... On Monday and Thursday, Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshits performed his love dance at our dacha in Mozzhinka for more than one year.

Daunka, imagine: Lelya kicked out Zhenya Zinochka when she paid her another visit. - Yes, Zhenya told me about this impudence. Here Lely also has a lot of malice. How nice Zhenya meets Zigush and other Lelya boys, because when Lelya decided to master Vitya in order to brighten up his loneliness, Zhenya helped Lelya. Vitya tried to resist. But Zhenya told him that he would consider it an honor to give him his marriage bed. Vitya took advantage of this manifestation of friendship and highly appreciated Zhenya's deed. Since then, he has stood behind Zhenya like a mountain, considering him his close friend!

Another episode that took place in the spring of 1946 (the son was born in July): “Korochka, I come to you with very good news, tonight at twenty-one I will not return alone, a girl will come to me to surrender! I told her that you in the country, sit quietly, like a mouse in a hole, or go away ... Please put fresh bed linen in my closet.

Then "peace and happiness again reigned in our house. For a year, two, three, Dau has dinner at home with friends or with me, only goes out once a week. I don't care where. I blossomed with happiness."

When numerous "girlfriends" of Dau asked if his wife was beautiful, he answered briefly: "She is forty years old!"

As Landau's wife writes, at one of her life moments she wanted to arouse her husband's jealousy when he finds out that she had a lover. This did not work, and her friend complained about how thorny the path in science is when you make your way only with your elbows. "Your L.D. is at ease: he has one hundred percent Jewish blood, and I am only 50 percent Jewish ...", he said.

ARTYUSHA AND NITA, DOW AND MITIA

“One evening, at the end of the war, Alikhanyan came to us, sat down to have dinner. Dau jumped up, saying: “Artyusha, I can no longer endure your sour look! .. Nita is already in Moscow. Did you call her?" - "... What if Mitya comes to the phone?" - "Mitya is sitting at the piano and does not hear phone calls."

Here we are talking about Dmitry Shostakovich and his wife Nina, with whom Alikhanyan (Artem Isaakovich, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, brother of Academician Abram (Abushi) Isaakovich Alikhanov) was in love for a long time, with a graduate of the Leningrad Physics Department Nina Vasilievna, now famous composer's wife.

Often after this incident, Artyusha and Nita (who went to work for Artyusha) went to Landau, and during the holidays of the Landau and Shostakovich families on the Black Sea coast, Artyusha often took Nita to the mountains. "And Mitya? Mitya found a piano in the sanatorium, was always surrounded by admirers of his talent and simply did not notice Nita's absence. Alikhanyan organized scientific expeditions to Alagez and began to take Nita to Armenia for several months, presenting her with all the beauties of Armenia ... ".

"Arriving in Moscow, I learned with great chagrin from mutual acquaintances that the meek, shy, simply "holy" Mitya suddenly discovered Nita's absence. He became jealous and even raged, pouring out his feelings in music. Nita's return put everything in its place" .

The Landau family continued to be friends with the Shostakovichs: “Dau, me and Artyusha were always present at the Shostakovich family celebrations. Mitya never treated guests to his works ....

After Nitochka's death, "Artyusha lived with Mitya for a whole month, carefully nursing him. They were united by love for a beautiful woman."

CRIMINAL HISTORY?

Kora Landau wrote: “On Sunday, January 7, 1962, at ten o’clock in the morning, a new light green Volga left the Institute for Physical Problems. Vladimir Sudakov was driving. Sudakov’s wife Verochka was sitting behind her, and Academician Landau was to her right. Dau appreciated Sudak (as he called Vladimir Sudakov) as a promising physicist student. In the past, he spoke highly of the beauty of his wife, Verochka.

Note that Verochka, as the mistress of the academician, is devoted to more than one line in the book of memoirs of Cora Landau-Drobantseva.

On January 7, Landau was going to arrive in Dubna, for which he had to leave by a 10-hour train from Moscow's Savelovsky Station. The night before, his friend and co-author Lifshitz promised to take him to the station in his new "Volga", but, being afraid of ice in the morning, Evgeny Lifshitz suggested that Landau postpone the trip.

Cora further says: "At 9 o'clock in the morning, Dau had already had breakfast ... Looking into the room ... Dau said:" Do not go out at the doorbell, I will open it myself. "It was a stop signal, a red light. In our marriage "non-aggression pact" there was a clause of complete freedom of personal life, complete freedom intimate life person.

"Good," I said, thinking that Zhenya would arrive with the girls in the car. In this case, Dow always gave a stop signal. The doorbell rang when Garik (son - V.B.) and I were having breakfast in the kitchen. In a few seconds, Dau is already down ... ".

Subsequently, it turned out that Landau with his student and his wife, and part-time, and the mistress of the academician, went by car to Dubna!

The trip was not caused by high scientific considerations, but by the need to "save Seeds" - " ex-husband Ellochki. She took her son and went to another, in the same house, also an employee of Dubna. "An explanation is needed here: Ellochka is the daughter of Landau's sister Sonya and Zigush is Landau's niece (see above - the section "Non-Aggression Marriage Pact"). ".. .In the sense of science, Ellochka's new lover is not even worth Semyon's trace. But..., folk wisdom says: "Love is evil, you will love a goat!" When Ella came to us, I repeatedly told her: "Who doesn't happen to. Well, I fell in love, well, we became lovers. And Semyon is a wonderful husband, a wonderful father." He, poor man, tried so hard not to notice this novel, he, as a cultured person, did not interfere with them. Semyon is my student, he had no right to be jealous. I always try to instill in my students cultural views on love, on life. But the wife of the one to whom Ellochka went, finding her in her bed, did not realize that jealousy is one of the wildest prejudices! She, with a baby in her arms, went to her relatives in Leningrad. Ellochka immediately went to live in the apartment of her new husband. Semyon lives nearby, and it turned out to be beyond his power to see his wife and son with another ... I have to go, straighten Semyon's brains ... ".

Landau agreed on a joint trip by train to Dubna with Sudakov (Sudak), his favorite student and no less beloved of his wife, Verochka. In general, interesting moments are visible: if the academician had favorite students, then their wives were more "favorite", or maybe they became favorite students after "this"?

And maybe one of his favorite students could no longer withstand civilized love "for three", which led to a car accident, while in the hospital Evgeny Lifshits shouted at Sudak: "Killer!" Kora blamed Lifshitz for everything: "You betrayed Dow... It was you who allowed Sudak to kill Dow!"

Maybe it was all said in anger, everything can be.

LANDAU LEV DAVIDOVICH

(b. 1908 - d. 1968)

An outstanding Soviet theoretical physicist, founder of a scientific school, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1946), professor at the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (1935–1937), Moscow University (1943–1947) and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology ( 1947–1950). Laureate of the State (1946, 1949, 1953), Lenin (1962) and Nobel (1962) prizes. Hero of Socialist Labor (1954), holder of three Orders of Lenin and other Soviet orders and medals, as well as the medals of Max Planck (FRG) and Fritz London (Canada). Foreign member of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences, and an honorary member of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts, the London Physical Society, the French Physical Society.

Landau went down in history as an outstanding scientist, talented teacher, educator of theoretical physicists, not only as the author of an original system for their effective training, but also as the creator of a large school with its own style and traditions. The name of Lev Davidovich is also associated with his famous ten-volume course "Theoretical Physics", translated into many languages, since it simply has no analogues in the world.

The depth of a true scientist was combined in him with the features of a teenager - in everything that did not concern science. An honest, freedom-loving teenager, sometimes charming, sometimes unbearable, who could not stand understatement in relations between people.

His ideas about how "one should live", his "Theory of Happiness" are very non-trivial, logically consistent, substantiated, tested in practice. Landau also created the "Non-Aggression Marriage Pact". And Dau (nickname Landau) considered his theory “How a man should build his personal life correctly” to be an outstanding work. He always regretted that his best theory would never be published.

He impressed those around him with his punctuality and commitment. “I have never been late for a single minute anywhere in my life,” said Lev Davidovich. “And if he promised something, he always fulfilled it.”

One of the greatest physicists of the world was born on January 9 (22), 1908 in Baku. His father worked as a petroleum engineer in the local oil fields, and his mother worked as a doctor. Leva from an early age developed comprehensively, was fond of poetry, studied German and French. (Later, before going to England, he learned English on his own in a month and could speak freely with Western colleagues.) Father, David Lvovich, studied a lot with his son, especially mathematics, which made it possible for the boy to show remarkable mathematical abilities very early.

In 1916, Leva entered the gymnasium and at the age of 13 received a matriculation certificate. Parents believed that their son was too young for a higher educational institution, and he studied for a year at the Baku Economic College. In 1922, the 14-year-old Leva successfully passed the exams at the Baku University for physics and mathematics, and two years later he transferred to St. Petersburg University. He studied so intensely that at night he dreamed of formulas.

In 1926, the first scientific work of a 16-year-old student was published - "On the theory of the spectra of diatomic molecules." In December of the same year, he participated in the work of the Fifth Congress of Russian Physicists in Moscow. In 1927, 19-year-old Landau graduated from the university and was accepted as a graduate student at the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology, where he worked on the magnetic theory of the electron and quantum electrodynamics. By this time, Leva managed to publish four scientific papers. In one of them (“The problem of braking by radiation”), to describe the state of systems, he first introduced a new important concept into quantum mechanics - the density matrix.

In 1929-1931, the postgraduate student visited Germany, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands and Denmark, where he worked in the best scientific centers and met the founders of quantum mechanics - W. Heisenberg, W. Pauli and N. Bohr, whom he considered his teacher.

In 1929, the Chekists arrested his father for possession of royal gold coins. Although David Lvovich was soon released, the fact of his father's "counter-revolutionary" activities became an integral part of the biography of Academician L. D. Landau. This "spot" remained until the end of his life.

In 1930, the work of 22-year-old Lev on diamagnetism was published (later this phenomenon was called "Landau diamagnetism") and other works. Unusually high successes have promoted the researcher to the ranks of the world's leading theoretical physicists.

In March 1931, Lev returned to Leningrad, where, they say, he did not get along with the director of the Institute of Physics and Technology, Academician A.F. Ioffe. Perhaps that is why the next year he moved to Kharkov - he was invited to the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UFTI). Here, a young but already world-famous physicist headed the theoretical department and at the same time headed the departments of theoretical physics at the Kharkov Engineering and Mechanical Institute and at the university. The scientific school that grew up around the 24-year-old Dau (that was what his students and close collaborators affectionately called) turned Kharkov into a leading center of Soviet theoretical physics. Not only all-Union, but also international physics conferences with the participation of prominent Western scientists were held here.

For a thorough training of future young scientific theorists in all areas of physics, Landau developed a rigorous training program - the famous "theoretical minimum". The requirements for applicants for the right to participate in the work of the seminar he led were so high that in 30 years, despite the large flow of applicants, only 40 people passed the "theoretical minimum" exams. But for those who overcame the barrier, Leo generously gave his time, gave them freedom in choosing the subject of research. In addition, together with a colleague and friend, E. M. Livshits, Lev Davidovich wrote a multi-volume "Course of Theoretical Physics", according to which physicists in many countries of the world are still studying.

In 1934, the All-Union Attestation Commission awarded the 26-year-old Landau the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (without defending a dissertation), and a year later he became a professor.

Lev Davidovich, despite his respectable ranks and positions, never put on airs. Colleagues and students invariably recalled his sparkling humor, he called himself "merry Dau." In dealing with people, the professor did not recognize distances and with jokes set up the interlocutor in a trusting way. His well-aimed aphorisms like: “Priest of science?! Is this the one who eats at the expense of science? Or "Sciences are supernatural, natural and unnatural (option - natural, unnatural and unnatural)". For the 50th anniversary of Landau, a medal was cast with a beautiful chased profile of the hero of the day and a Latin inscription of his favorite expression “I hear from a fool!”

He did not know what boredom was, he was very fond of all sorts of practical jokes. Once an employee of his institute published his scientific work, full of absurdity and plagiarism. Landau wrote to N. Bohr in Copenhagen, asking him to send a telegram to the Institute on April 1 addressed to this unfortunate scientist. They say that the Nobel Committee is interested in the scientific discovery of such and such and asks that the potential laureate on the first of April presented to L. D. Landau all his works, retyped on a typewriter in two copies. Looking down on everyone, the unfortunate "great scientist" ran in the morning to be photographed, poking everyone to read Bohr's international telegram. Drunk with happiness, with a self-satisfied smile “at five minutes to Nobel laureate” he even stopped greeting some of his acquaintances. One can imagine what happened to him when, having put the reprinted works on Landau's desk, he suddenly heard: “Did you really think that they could give the Nobel Prize for this nonsense? Happy April 1st!

The worst assessment that Lev Davidovich could give to one of the people around him was a boring person. He created a comic "Theory of boredom", in which even a "unit of boredom" was introduced with the following definition: "An hour of communication with him kills an elephant."

In 1934, in Kharkov, Lev met his future wife, Concordia Drobantseva, a food processing engineer. “He did not drink, did not smoke, was not a gourmet, was absolutely indifferent to luxury ... And all the beauty of nature for him merged into the image of a charming female beauty!" – recalled Cora Landau. In 1937 they got married, in July 1946 Garik was born to them, who later worked as an experimental physicist at his father's institute. Cora wanted her son to bear the surname Landau and be Russian. Lev did not agree: “If Landau is a Jew, and if you want to record him as Russian, then let him be Drobantsev. It's funny - Landau - and Russian. Since it was impossible to argue with him, the wife agreed, and they agreed on the decision to record the son under the name of the father.

According to the niece of the brilliant scientist, Ella, for quite a long time Lev Davidovich's wife remained his only woman. But even before the wedding, he told her: "The foundation of our marriage will be personal freedom." Landau had mistresses, Concordia knew this, but she was obviously satisfied with a comfortable and carefree life at the expense of her husband, and she tolerated betrayal.

The lion was greedy for beauties. So, he told one dissertation student that he would come to Leningrad to oppose his doctoral dissertation only if a suitable lady was found to get acquainted with him. The poor dissertation student called his acquaintances, and they found some woman. But Dau, barely looking at her, twisted his face, so that the acquaintance did not take place. Nevertheless, the dissertation defense was successful.

Landau created the "Non-Aggression Marriage Pact". Here is one of the points: “All my income was divided as follows: 60% to my wife for all the needs of the family, including her husband, 40% to her husband for personal use.

- Korusha, you should know: I will spend my 40% on philanthropy, helping my neighbor and, of course, on those girls I will meet ...

His philanthropy mainly consisted in the fact that he financially supported the families of five physicists who died in prison during the Stalinist era: “You know, Korochka, I really like to give money to good people ...”

In 1935, the Stalinist repressions did not bypass the UFTI, which at that time was a world-class scientific center. By 1937, the Kharkov Institute of Physics was destroyed, and Landau himself escaped arrest only by fleeing to Moscow. He was urgently invited by the famous scientist Pyotr Kapitsa to his Institute for Physical Problems. But in April 1938, Lev was arrested anyway, accused of espionage, sabotage, participation in the compilation of an anti-Stalinist leaflet. During 1938-1939 he was under investigation in the Butyrka prison. In the cell, the prisoner "had fun" by teasing the sycophants: "I really like to tease when there is something!"

As a result of the petition of P. Kapitsa and N. Bor to Stalin and Beria with a request to release Landau "on bail" under the personal responsibility of Kapitsa, Lev Davidovich was released, but he was rehabilitated only in 1990.

He was a free-thinking person and perfectly understood that he lived in a totalitarian state. Nevertheless, despite the difficult prison experience and the warnings of friends that he is being constantly monitored and eavesdropped on at work and at home, the scientist spoke about the USSR as follows: “Our system is a fascist system. Our rulers are fascists from head to toe. They may be more liberal, less liberal, but their ideas are fascist. The fact that Lenin was the first fascist is clear.” On the policy of the Soviet government during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956: "Our leaders decided to splatter themselves with blood ... We have these criminals who rule the country."

During World War II, Landau was engaged in the study of combustion and explosions and other scientific work, for which in 1946 he was awarded the first Stalin Prize in his life. Then the academician led a group of theorists who carried out fantastically complex calculations of thermonuclear chain reactions to create nuclear weapons.

Work on the atomic project did not attract the scientist, and he tried to minimize it: “ Man of sense should keep as far as possible from practical activities of this kind. If it were not for my fifth point (nationality), I would not be engaged in special work, but only in science, from which I am now lagging behind.

In 1953, when the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was tested, its main creators, including Landau, received gold stars of the Heroes of Socialist Labor, the Order of Lenin, and State Prizes. But it was impossible to travel abroad to international symposiums. Lev Davidovich perceived his scientific loneliness as a tragedy. Later, he turned to N. S. Khrushchev, but he was not even allowed to travel to China.

Those who knew Lev Davidovich closely said that he was almost always in a state of creative tension. At times, overwhelmed by a new idea, he would lose sleep and forget about food. This is how new fundamental works and scientific discoveries appeared.

Landau's wife recalled: “Dau studied only at home. He refused his own office at the institute: “I don’t know how to sit, but there’s nowhere to lie there” ... He talked about science with physicists, students and visitors at home, in the foyer of the institute or walking along the long institute corridors, and in warm seasons - around the territory of the institute .

- Korusha, I went to the institute to scratch my tongue.

This meant that employees and students were waiting for him, he would give lectures, conduct seminars, talk about science or consult. Dau was engaged in real science only in solitude, lying on an ottoman surrounded by pillows.

The brilliant scientist had a unique ability for mathematical calculations. He never used a slide rule, or tables of logarithms, or reference books. The physicist made all these most complicated calculations in his mind. But sometimes the most elementary everyday questions baffled him. Landau's wife recalled an episode that took place during the war: “Having supplied Dau with all the accumulated meat coupons in the morning, I said that I would be very happy if he really brought meat, but this borders on a miracle ... They brought lamb. My husband immediately had a question: “Is lamb meat?” - to resolve which he could not, here his brain was powerless. He asked one of the employees in line about this, and she replied: “Yeah, meat is beef, and lamb is lamb.” Leo could not go against the truth and left the queue very upset.

On January 7, 1962, on the way to Dubna, Lev Davidovich got into a car accident. He was on his way to help his niece Ella, the daughter of his sister Sonya. (It so happened that the niece left her husband and found herself in a difficult situation.) On a slippery highway, the scientist's car collided with a truck. Everyone escaped with fright, minor bruises and scratches, and Dau received serious fractures, damage to the brain and internal organs. For six weeks, the victim remained unconscious and for almost three months did not even recognize his relatives.

The accident stirred up the entire scientific community. Doctors and physicists from different countries sought to contribute to the salvation of the great scientist, and he miraculously survived. Speech returned to Dau, he began to walk, but he could no longer engage in creative activities. Lev Davidovich remembered poems, some old events, but he did not remember who visited him yesterday, what happened an hour ago. And, worst of all, the eminent physicist lost interest in life and others.

In 1962, L. D. Landau was awarded the Lenin Prize, as well as the Nobel Prize in Physics "for pioneering work in the theory of condensed matter, especially liquid helium." (It so happened that he wrote the work itself before his arrest in 1938.) The laureate could not go to Stockholm, and this high award was presented to him in Moscow by the Ambassador of Sweden.

Shortly before his death, the great physicist said: “I lived my life well. I have always succeeded." Those were his last words. On April 1, 1968, he died in a Moscow hospital.

In the year of the death of an outstanding scientist, a collection of his works in various fields of physics was published - quantum electrodynamics, magnetism, superfluidity and superconductivity, solid state physics, atomic nucleus and elementary particles, plasma physics, astrophysics and others. Such breadth of Landau's scientific creativity is unprecedented in its range.