Lev Petrovich Gor'kov (russian: Лев Петро́вич Горько́в; 14 June 1929 – 28 December 2016) was a Russian-American research physicist internationally known for his pioneering work in the field of

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

. He was particularly famous for developing microscopic foundations of the

Ginzburg–Landau theory In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomenol ...

of superconductivity (

Vitaly Ginzburg Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, ForMemRS (russian: Вита́лий Ла́заревич Ги́нзбург, link=no; 4 October 1916 – 8 November 2009) was a Russian physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003, together with ...

was awarded the 2003 Nobel prize in physics for developing, together with

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet- Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His a ...

, that phenomenological theory). Gor'kov was a professor of physics at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

, and a program director in Condensed Matter at the

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is a facility at Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that performs magnetic field research in physics, biology, bioengineering ...

. He was one of the Magnet Lab's founding scientists.

Biography

Gor'kov was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and received his academic training when he was at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, after which he entered Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, and eventually joined the

Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics The L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (russian: link=no, Институт теоретической физики имени Л. Д. Ландау (ИТФ)) of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research institution, located in the s ...

. In 1966, he was awarded the Lenin Prize, Russia's highest award for scientific achievement, in recognition of his groundbreaking work on superconductivity. In 1981, he received the Bardeen Prize (with Alexei Abrikosov and

). In 1988, he received the

Landau Prize The Landau Gold Medal (russian: Премия имени Л. Д. Ландау) is the highest award in theoretical physics awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences and its predecessor the Soviet Academy of Sciences. It was established in 1971 ...

, the highest award in Russia for theoretical physics. In 1992, less than a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he left Moscow for the United States at age 63. In 2004, he was a co-recipient of the prestigious

Eugene Feenberg Eugene Feenberg (October 6, 1906 in Fort Smith, Arkansas – November 7, 1977) was an American physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. Education In 1929, Feenberg graduated from the University of Texas at Au ...

Award, given to recognize researchers who have advanced the field of many-body physics. In 2005, he became an elected member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, one of the very highest honors that can be bestowed on any U.S. scientist or engineer. He belonged to the last generation of scientists who were direct disciples of Soviet theorist

. Gor’kov's contributions to physics reflect the unique style of the Landau Institute. In addition to his duties at the Magnet Lab, Gor'kov maintained his

RAS Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

membership and continued to perform research for the Landau Institute. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious Ugo Fano Gold Medal of the Rome International Center for Materials Science Superstripes RICMASS for his key prediction of two electronics components in cuprate high temperature superconductors. Gor'kov died on 28 December 2016 at the age of 87. On June 24–26, 2019, The Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics hosted an International Conference in his honor.

References

External links

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory faculty profile

Lev P. Gor'kov
Site of RAS
Gor'kov, Lev P.
NAS Section: Physics
Research for Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

Ugo Fano Gold Medal 2015, RICMASS, Rome, Italy

Publications of Lev Gor'kov 1955-2016
* Modern Trends in Condensed Matter Physics, Lev Gor'kov Memorial Conference, http://gorkovconf.itp.ac.ru/gorkov2019/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorkov, Lev Petrovich 1929 births 2016 deaths Scientists from Moscow Fellows of the American Physical Society Florida State University faculty Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology faculty Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian physicists American physicists