Vitaly Lazarevich Günzburg (Russian ВиталийЛазаревичГинзбург) October 4, 1916---November 8, 2009), Soviet physicist and astrophysicist , Jewish nationality, famous atheist.
Born on October 4, 1916, in a Jewish family in Moscow, his father was an engineer and his mother was a doctor. Married for the first time in 1937, graduated from Moscow State University in 1938, worked at the Institute of Physics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (later renamed P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute) in 1940, and gradually rose to the position of director. In 1942, he was awarded the Physics Degree PhD degree. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1944, became a professor at Gorky University in 1945, and married for the second time in 1947. His wife, Nina, was imprisoned for a year due to false accusations. He was a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1953 and an academician in 1966. He once took a clear-cut stance against Lysenkoism, allowing genetic science to take root again in Russia. As a secular Jew, he declared his support for Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as chairman of the Russian Jewish Union. An avowed atheist, he strongly opposed and openly polemized against the post-Soviet Orthodox revival movement. He supports Putin politically and signed a letter of support for his re-election. Since 2003, he has been a consultant of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Mainly studies the theory of wave diffusion in the ionosphere, radio astronomy, the origin of cosmic rays, thermodynamic theory of potassium and sodium tartrate dielectric phenomena, superconductivity theory, optical radiation theory, astrophysics, etc. In 1950, Gunzburg and Lev Davidovich Landau proposed a model to describe the superconducting phenomenon (Günzburg-Landau equation) based on Landau's second-order phase transition theory. On the basis of this model, Soviet physicist Alexei Abrikosov theoretically explained the characteristics of type II superconductors in 1957. In addition, Günzburg also played a key role in the Soviet Union's development of the hydrogen bomb.
The 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Alexei Abrikosov, a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and Anthony Leggett, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Anthony Leggett (1938-) and Russian scientist Vitaly Ginzburg, for their pioneering contributions to the fields of superconductors and superfluids.
His main contribution is the study of radio astronomy and the origin of cosmic rays: In the infancy of radio astronomy, he made a series of inferences about the nature of the corona in 1946 based on the quiet solar radio theory. From 1952 to 1961, he conducted in-depth research on the theory of the occasional part of solar radio radiation and proposed a series of radio astronomy methods. For example, observing the diffraction at the edge of the moon is used to study discrete radio sources. He has published more than 400 scientific papers and more than 10 monographs on theoretical physics, astrophysics and cosmic rays. He received the State Prize in 1953, the Lenin Prize in 1966, one Order of Lenin, two other orders, and several medals.
He died of illness in Moscow on the evening of November 8, 2009, at the age of 93. On November 9th, the Kremlin Press Bureau announced that Russian President Medvedev sent a message of condolences to the relatives of Russian scientist Vitaly Gentsberg on the death of his family. Russian President Medvedev said in his condolence message: An outstanding and strong-willed figure passed away. He was a great physicist of our time. His discoveries had a significant impact on the development of science in Russia and the world. A professional is an example of serving the motherland throughout his life. Academician Günzburg's scientific research activities and social activities, as well as his loyalty to justice and humanistic ideals, have made him respected domestically and internationally.