Lev Landau is celebrated by Google with a Doodle today, on what would have been his 111th birthday. Mr Landau was born in Azerbaijan on January 22, 1908, and later went on the win the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics. Why was Lev Landau important?
Why was Lev Landau important?
In 1962, Lev Landau won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research into liquid helium’s behaviour at extremely low temperatures.
His accomplishments include the independent co-discovery of the density matrix method in quantum mechanics (alongside John von Neumann), the quantum mechanical theory of diamagnetism, the theory of superfluidity and the theory of second-order phase transitions.
In 1946, Mr Landau also received the Lenin Science Prize for his monumental Course of Theoretical Physics.
Google writes: “His wide-ranging research has linked his name to many concepts that he was first to describe including: Landau Levels, which are the focus of today’s Doodle, Landau diamagnetism, Landau damping, and the Landau energy spectrum.
“His legacy is also kept alive by the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Moscow—and there is even a crater on the moon named after him!”
Mr Landau was a math prodigy who learned to differentiate at the age of 12 and to integrate at age of 13.
He was only 13 when he began university and 21 when he finished his PhD, winning a coveted Rockerfeller scholarship which launched his career as a groundbreaking scientist.
In 1965 former students and co-workers of Landau founded the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, located in the town of Chernogolovka near Moscow.
The same year, Lev Landau and Yevsei Liberman published a letter in the New York Times, stating that as Soviet Jews they opposed US intervention on behalf of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry.
The physicist died on April 1, 1968, aged 60, from complications of the injuries sustained in the car accident he was involved in six years earlier.
He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Throughout his entire life, Mr Landau was known for his sharp humour.
In a dialogue with a psychiatrist (P), who tried to test for possible brain damage after Landau (L) was recovering from the car crash the conversation reportedly went as follows:
- P: “Please draw me a circle”
- L draws a cross
- P: “Hm, now draw me a cross”
- L draws a circle
- P: “Landau, why don’t you do what I ask?”
- L: “If I did, you might come to think I’ve become mentally retarded”.