Lev Pram

Biographical elements

Born with Bakou from a father, David, engineer in the oil, which was also administrator of the oil company of Alphonse de Rothschild, called BNITO (Russian acronym of " THE CASPIAN ONE OF THE BLACK SEA ") until its sale in 1911, and of a mother doctor. Lev can read as of the four years age and will remain during all its schooling a gifted pupil although timid and awkward, often fleeing the contact of the other children. It is not ten years old when the Russian Révolution bursts, creating within its family and of the Jewish minority of which she forms part the hope to finally see ceasing discriminations of which she is the object under the mode of the Tsar Nicolas II.

After having finished its secondary studies at the thirteen years age, Lev hopes to be able to continue with the Faculty of Science of the university of Bakou but under the pressure of his/her father, and with its great despair, it is registered at the institute of the high economic studies of this same city. At the end of one year, while being able more, he refuses to continue and obtains from his father to go to study sciences at the university where he is registered in 1922 in mathematics and physics, becoming thus youngest of the students.

Two years later, its license out of pocket, it obtains heats recommendations of its professors in order to continue its studies at the university of Petrograd. In spite of the disturbed political situation of the the USSR of then, it finds on its arrival in 1924 an environment favorable to the intellectual blooming of the young scientists. Soviet capacity maintaining still at that time a progressist attitude with respect to sciences, seeing in it at the same time means of promotion of its ideology and combat of the religions.

Within this university, Landau binds quickly friendship with George Gamow and is seen quickly affublé of the soft nickname of “dau” which will follow it all its life. It thus begins its thesis in 1926 at the institute physico-technique of Leningrad and publishes its first article devoted to with the spectral analysis of the diatomic molecules. Its reputation of then the fact of passing for a soft eccentric, readily rebellious, even insolate but always charming, because at the same time awkward and timid. From the political point of view, Lev is then a convinced and enthusiastic revolutionist, being regarded as an authentic Marxist. In addition admiror of Trotsky, it worries about the rise to the capacity of Stalin and about the emergence of a repressive and suspicieux political power.

After months of waiting, Landau ends up taking down in 1929 a purse of the Soviet government as well as Fondation Rockefeller in order to go to study the physique abroad one year. It does not have whereas twenty and one year but can be prided on a considerable scientific work, treating in particular Physique quantum statistics and .

Its stay in Europe starts with Göttingen where he answers an invitation of max Born. At the end of a few weeks, it goes to Leipzig to follow the courses of Werner Heisenberg and is quickly pointed out for its intrepid and voluntary character. Little time after, it leaves for Copenhagen where it meets Bohr, of which it will be then always regarded as a disciple. He will turn over to Copenhagen in 1933 and 1934. Its tour then leads it to Cambridge where he works under the direction of Paul Dirac and with Zurich with Wolfgang Pauli. One of its codisciples with Zurich, Rudolf Peierls (which was then assistant of Wolfgang Pauli) known as of him:
“ I very clearly remember the great impression that Landau made on us all when it was presented in the laboratory of Wolfgang Pauli in 1929, We did not take a long time to discover with which depth it included/understood modern physics, and which talent it had to solve the fundamental problems. It seldom read in detail an article of theoretical physics, to see just enough whether the subject were interesting, and in this case which was the approach of the author. He put himself in following making calculations on his side, and if its results agreed with those of the author, he approved the article. ”

Pram regains Leningrad in 1931 and then notes a material change in the attitude of the Soviet government towards the Russian scientists. Those until had indeed been able there to work in a climate of relative freedom, the mode recently created seeking to be established a certain international legitimacy via the fame of its scientists. The beginning of the year thirty is characterized on the contrary by a strong political will of the the USSR to give its citizens in the right ideological way, including and especially the scientists.

In 1932, Lev settles with Kharkov, where one entrusts to him the direction of the theoretical section of the new Institute physico-technique of Ukraine. It is received “science doctor” in 1934 without to have had to support its thesis and is named with the pulpit of general physics of the university of Kharkov in 1935. In 1937, at the request of Pyotr Kapitsa, it settles with Moscow, where it is named by this one with the head of the theoretical section of the institute of the physical problems builds little front time. This nomination falls at point named for Landau, Moscow having replaced since a few years Leningrad like centers Soviet science. But its satisfaction lasts only a time, the end of the year thirty is one difficult period for Soviet, large the purgings plunges the population in fear and suspicion.

The morning of April 28th, 1938, a limousine penetrates in the court of the institute of the physical problems. A man as a civilian in fate and sounds with the door of the number two, the apartment of Pram. This one is then brought to the Boutyrskaïa, one of the many political prisons which account Moscow. It is announced to him that he is condemned to ten years of prison under the imaginary but very current charge at that time of espionage to the profit of Germany Nazie. It stagnates thus during a year in cell. Kapitsa succeeds in making it release in April 1939, while intervening directly, and with the danger of its own life, near Molotov. Lev leaves prison émacié, seriously sick and mentally destroyed. Semi-serious semi-ironic, he will say this period later that it was not completely lost for him since he not learned how to make head a very great number of complex calculations, the walls of its cell being used to him as imaginary black board.

He goes back to work as of his coming out of prison and finished an important study on the polarization of the free electrons, perhaps seeking to catch up with the time wasted in prison. There takes again its hierarchical and scientific position within the institute of the physical problems but remains somewhat suspect all the same with the eyes of the mode. This suspicion, maintained by the fact that Landau was never member of the Communist party, somewhat slowed down its entry with the Academy of Science of the USSR. After the supports and pressures of certain influential scientists, Landau made there its entry in 1945 without being present on the list of the central committee nor to be last by the intermediate stage of corresponding member.

From 1949, Landau is attacked in collaboration with Evguéni Lifchitz, with a monumental work: its famous course of theoretical physics in six volumes.

It is victim of a very serious car accident on January 7th, 1962, from which it will never go back really.

See too

Theory of Ginzburg-Pram

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