1916–2009
○ Heart failure
From the H-bomb's 'second idea' to the Nobel Prize: a century-spanning theoretical physicist
I am a very rare — and possibly unique — person in that I was saved by the H-bomb!
A towering figure in Soviet theoretical physics, Ginzburg joined Igor Tamm's theory group within Igor Kurchatov's hydrogen bomb project (1948–1952), where he proposed using lithium-6 deuteride as thermonuclear fuel, the "second idea" that proved crucial to the successful Soviet H-bomb test of 1953. In 1950 he and Lev Landau formulated the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity; this work earned him the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics. He succeeded Tamm as head of the Theoretical Physics Department at the Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN, 1971–1988) and, as a full Academician (1966), shaped the institutional core of Soviet physics for two decades.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1940Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D. equivalent) in physics, Moscow State University
- 1942Doctor of Sciences, Moscow State University; joined Theoretical Dept., Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN)
- 1945–1961Chair, Radiophysics Faculty, Gorky State University
- 1948–1952Soviet H-bomb project — proposed lithium-6 deuteride as thermonuclear fuel
- 1953Corresponding Member, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1966Full Academician, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1968–2009Head, Dept. of Physics and Astrophysics Problems, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
- 1971–1988Head, Theoretical Physics Department, FIAN
- 1989–1991People's Deputy of the USSR, Academy of Sciences quota
- 1998–2009Editor-in-chief, Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk (Physics-Uspekhi)
Related historical events
Wartime radio-wave research and the start of his scientific career
Ginzburg turned to theoretical physics in 1938 and began work on electromagnetic radiation and electrodynamics. He received the Candidate of Sciences degree from Moscow State University in 1940 and joined the Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN) on 1 September that year to pursue his higher doctorate. He continued research during the German-Soviet war after FIAN was evacuated with much of the Academy of Sciences to Kazan. He investigated radio-wave propagation in the atmosphere and other problems he considered potentially useful for defence. In spring 1942 he defended his higher-doctoral thesis. Life in Kazan was cold and short of food, but scientific work continued.
After the war, in 1945, Ginzburg accepted an invitation from Gorky University to take charge of a chair on the propagation and radiation of radio waves in its newly organized radiophysics department. His wartime study of radio-wave propagation in the ionosphere informed this work. He travelled between Moscow and Gorky to lecture and train graduate students and researchers in astrophysics and astronomy. Alongside his theoretical-physics work at FIAN, this appointment provided a base for his work in radio physics and astrophysics.