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Alexei Abrikosov (physicist)

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For his father, physician, see Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov.

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Alexeyevich and the family name is Abrikosov.
Alexei Abrikosov
Алексей Абрикосов
Abrikosov in 2003
Born(1928-06-25)June 25, 1928
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DiedMarch 29, 2017(2017-03-29) (aged 88)
Palo Alto, California, United States
Citizenship
Alma mater
Known for
Spouse
Svetlana Yuriyevna Bunkova
​
​
(m. 1977)​
Children3
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
Doctoral advisorLev. D Landau[3]
Websitewww.msd.anl.gov/abrikosov

Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (Russian: Алексе́й Алексе́евич Абрико́сов; June 25, 1928 – March 29, 2017[4][5]) was a Soviet, Russian and American[6] theoretical physicist whose main contributions are in the field of condensed matter physics. He was the co-recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics, with Vitaly Ginzburg and Anthony James Leggett, for theories about how matter can behave at extremely low temperatures.[6][7][8]

Education and early life

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Abrikosov was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, on June 25, 1928, to a couple of physicians: Aleksey Abrikosov and Fani Abrikosova, née Wulf. His mother was Jewish.[9] After graduating from high school in 1943, Abrikosov began studying energy technology. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1948. From 1948 to 1965, he worked at the Institute for Physical Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he received his Ph.D. in 1951 for the theory of thermal diffusion in plasmas, and then his Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (a "higher doctorate") degree in 1955 for a thesis on quantum electrodynamics at high energies. Abrikosov moved to the US in 1991 and lived there until his death in 2017, in Palo Alto, California. While in the US, Abrikosov was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2000, and in 2001, to be a foreign member of the Royal Society.[3][10]

Career

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From 1965 to 1988, he worked at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (USSR Academy of Sciences). He has been a professor at Moscow State University since 1965. In addition, he held tenure at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology from 1972 to 1976, and at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys from 1976 to 1991. He served as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences from 1987 to 1991. In 1991, he became a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In two works in 1952 and 1957, Abrikosov explained how magnetic flux can penetrate a class of superconductors. This class of materials are called type-II superconductors. The accompanying arrangement of magnetic flux lines is called the Abrikosov vortex lattice.

Together with Lev Gor'kov and Igor Dzyaloshinskii, Abrikosov has written an iconic book on theoretical solid-state physics, which has been used to train physicists in the field for decades.

From 1991 until his retirement, he worked at Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. state of Illinois. Abrikosov was an Argonne Distinguished Scientist at the Condensed Matter Theory Group in Argonne's Materials Science Division. When he received the Nobel Prize, his research was focused on the origins of magnetoresistance, a property of some materials that change their resistance to electrical flow under the influence of a magnetic field.[11][12][13][14][15]

Honours and awards

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Abrikosov was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1966, the Fritz London Memorial Prize in 1972, and the USSR State Prize in 1982. In 1989 he received the Landau Prize from the Academy of Sciences, Russia.[citation needed] Two years later, in 1991, Abrikosov was awarded the Sony Corporation's John Bardeen Award. The same year he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[16] He shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics. He was also a member of the Royal Academy of London, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and in 2000 was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.[1] Other awards include:

Personal life

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Abrikosov was the son of the physicians Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov (1875-1955) and his second wife, Fania Davidovna Woolf (1895—1965). Through his father, Abrikosov was the nephew of the martyred Catholic nun Anna Abrikosova (1882-1936).

His sister was Maria Alekseevna Abrikósova (1929-1998), physician.

He married Svetlana Yuriyevna Bunkova and had 3 children.[6][3]

He died in California on 29 March 2017 at the age of 88.[18]

Books

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  • Abrikosov, Alexey; Gor'kov, Lev; Dzyaloshinskii, Igor (1975). Methods of Quantum Field Theory in Statistical Physics. London, U.K.: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0199232727.
  • Abrikosov, Alexey (1988). Fundamentals of the Theory of Metals. Amsterdam: North Holland. ISBN 978-0444870940.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Alexei A. Abrikosov, Argonne National Laboratory". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Fellows of the Royal Society". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Hargittai, Balazs (2005). Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists. Imperial College Press. p. 185. ISBN 1860945066.
  4. ^ "Прощание с нобелевским лауреатом Абрикосовым состоится 31 марта в Калифорнии". Interfax.ru. March 30, 2017.
  5. ^ Kenneth Chang (April 2, 2017). "Alexei Abrikosov, Nobel Laureate in Physics, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Alexei A. Abrikosov. Autobiography. Nobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Prize, 2003
  7. ^ "Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov's Nobel Prize winning research associated with the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies".
  8. ^ A Short Biography of Abrikosov Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, on the website of the Material Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory
  9. ^ "Jewish Nobel Prize Winners in Physics". www.jinfo.org. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  10. ^ Varlamov, Andrey; Littlewood, Peter (2024). "Alexei Alekseevich Abrikosov. 25 June 1928 — 29 March 2017". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 76: 9–26. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2023.0030.
  11. ^ Abrikosov, A. A. “Theory of an Unusual Metal-Insulator Transition in Layered High-Tc Cuprates”, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy,(August 28, 2003) Archived June 20, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ Abrikosov, A. A. “Theory of High-{Tc} Superconducting Cuprates Based on Experimental Evidence”, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy,(Dec. 10, 1999).
  13. ^ Abrikosov, A. A. “New Developments in the Theory of HTSC (High Temperature Superconductors)”, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research,(Sept. 1994).
  14. ^ Abrikosov, A. A. "On the magnetic properties of superconductors of the second group", Soviet Physics JETP 5, 1174 (1957) Archived October 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, page scans of the original article.
  15. ^ “Argonne Scientist Wins 2003 Nobel Prize for Physics” McGregor, S., Oct. 7, 2003 Archived 2008-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, press release.
  16. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
  17. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  18. ^ Chang, Kenneth (April 2, 2017). "Alexei Abrikosov, Nobel Laureate in Physics, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
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