Soviet theoretical physics titan who founded the 'Landau school' and pioneered quantum fluid dynamics
He rated physicists on a logarithmic scale by achievement: class 1 was Bohr, Heisenberg, Dirac. Einstein alone was class 0.5. He once placed himself at 2.5, later promoting himself to 1.5.
Soviet theoretical physicist. He founded the 'Landau school' in Kharkov, selecting disciples through his rigorous Theoretical Minimum exam, and pioneered condensed matter physics with his theories of superfluidity and Fermi liquids. His Course of Theoretical Physics with Lifshitz set the global textbook standard.
Career Timeline
- 1932–1937Head of Theoretical Department, UFTI · Professor at Kharkov University
- 1937–1968Head of Theoretical Department, Institute for Physical Problems, Moscow
- 1943–1947Professor of Low-Temperature Physics, Moscow State University
- 1945–1953Participant in the Soviet atomic project · Three Stalin Prizes
- 1946Elected full member (academician) of the USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1962Nobel Prize in Physics for 'pioneering theories of condensed matter, especially liquid helium'
Related historical events
- 1937–1938The Great PurgeTheoretical physicist arrested in 1938, imprisoned for one yearArrested on 28 April 1938 on charges of 'anti-Soviet agitation'; two of his ribs were broken during NKVD interrogation. Released exactly one year later, on 28 April 1939, after Niels Bohr's appeal and Pyotr Kapitsa's personal guarantee to Beria. One of the rare cases of a major scientist arrested during the Great Terror who survived; he returned to the Soviet atomic project and superfluidity research, winning the Nobel Prize in 1962.
- 1943–1949The Soviet Atomic ProjectTheoretical physicist who participated in the Soviet atomic project
The Landau School and the Theoretical Minimum
Landau designed a unique apprenticeship system for Soviet theoretical physics. His 'Theoretical Minimum' (теорминимум) consisted of nine examinations: two in mathematics, followed by mechanics, field theory, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, continuum mechanics, continuum electrodynamics, and quantum electrodynamics. Landau conducted oral exams personally, ruthlessly testing the candidate's physical intuition and problem-solving ability. Those who passed were recognised for life as 'Landau's disciples.'
The first to pass were Alexander Kompaneets (1933), Evgeny Lifshitz (1934), Alexander Akhiezer (1935), and Isaak Pomeranchuk (1935). In later years Alexei Abrikosov, Lev Gor'kov, Igor Dzyaloshinsky, Ilya Lifshitz, Isaak Khalatnikov, and Alexander Andreev followed, forming the backbone of Soviet theoretical physics. The Landau–Lifshitz Course of Theoretical Physics was originally conceived as preparation material for the Theoretical Minimum and grew into a classic translated into 20 languages. The school's distinctive culture, including Landau's famous logarithmic ranking of physicists, in which he promoted himself from class 2.5 to 1.5, has become the stuff of academic legend.