Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, Soviet physicist and astrophysicist, born 4 October, 1916. His research ranged over the theory of superconductivity and to the theory of high-energy processes in astrophysics, theories of radio-wave propagation, radio astronomy, and the origin of cosmic rays. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics with Alexey Alexeevich Abrikosov (Russia, 1928 - ) and Anthony James Leggett (British, 1938 - ) in 2003 for his pioneering work on superconductivity. Ginzburg conducted his prizewinning research on superconductivity in the 1950s. First identified in 1911, superconductivity is the disappearance of electrical resistance in various solids when they are cooled below a characteristic temperature, which is typically very low. Scientists formulated various theories on why the phenomenon occurs in certain metals termed type I superconductors. Ginzburg developed such a theory, and it proved so comprehensive that Abrikosov later used it to build a theoretical explanation for type II superconductors. Ginzburg’s achievement also enabled other scientists to create and test new superconducting materials and build more powerful electromagnets. Another significant theory developed by Ginzburg was that cosmic radiation in interstellar space is produced not by thermal radiation but by the acceleration of high-energy electrons in magnetic fields, a process known as synchrotron radiation. In 1955 Ginzburg (with Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (Russia, 1916 - 1985) discovered the first quantitative proof that the cosmic rays observed near Earth originated in supernovas. Upon the discovery in 1969 of pulsars (neutron stars formed in supernova explosions), he expanded his theory to include pulsars as a related source of cosmic rays. He was a member of the team that developed the Soviet thermonuclear bomb. Reference: britannica/EBchecked/topic/233993/Vitaly-Lazarevich-Ginzburg, Retrieved 28 August, 2011
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 09:30:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015