Kapitsa years of life. Petr Leonidovich Kapitsa: biography, photos, quotes

Youth

Return to the USSR

1934-1941

War and post-war years

Last years

Scientific heritage

Works 1920-1980

Discovery of superfluidity

civil position

Family and personal life

Awards and prizes

Bibliography

Books about P. L. Kapitsa

(June 26 (July 8) 1894, Kronstadt - April 8, 1984, Moscow) - engineer, physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939).

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1978) for the discovery of the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium, introduced the term “superfluidity” into scientific use. He is also known for his work in the field of low-temperature physics, the study of ultra-strong magnetic fields and the confinement of high-temperature plasma. Developed a high-performance industrial gas liquefaction plant (turboexpander). From 1921 to 1934 he worked in Cambridge under the leadership of Rutherford. In 1934 he moved to the USSR. From 1946 to 1955, he was dismissed from Soviet government agencies due to his refusal to cooperate with the authorities in work on the Soviet atomic project. He worked in several places at the same time. But he was given the opportunity to work as a professor at Moscow State University until 1950. Lomonosov.

Twice winner of the Stalin Prize (1941, 1943). Awarded a large gold medal named after M.V. Lomonosov of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1959). Twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1945, 1974). Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

Prominent organizer of science. Founder of the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP), whose director remained until the last days of his life. One of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The first head of the Department of Low Temperature Physics, Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University.

Biography

Youth

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was born in Kronstadt, in the family of military engineer Leonid Petrovich Kapitsa and his wife Olga Ieronimovna. In 1905 he entered the gymnasium. A year later, due to poor performance in Latin, he transferred to the Kronstadt Real School. After graduating from college, in 1914 he entered the electromechanical faculty of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. A. F. Ioffe quickly notices a capable student and attracts him to his seminar and work in the laboratory. The First World War found the young man in Scotland, which he visited during the summer holidays to study the language. He returned to Russia in November 1914 and a year later volunteered to go to the front. Kapitsa served as an ambulance driver and carried the wounded on the Polish front. In 1916, having been demobilized, he returned to St. Petersburg to continue his studies.

Even before defending his diploma, A.F. Ioffe invited Pyotr Kapitsa to work in the Physico-Technical Department of the newly created X-ray and Radiological Institute (transformed in November 1921 into the Physico-Technical Institute). The scientist publishes his first scientific works in ZhRFKhO and begins teaching.

Ioffe believed that a promising young physicist needed to continue his studies at a reputable foreign scientific school, but for a long time it was not possible to organize a trip abroad. Thanks to the assistance of Krylov and the intervention of Maxim Gorky, in 1921 Kapitsa, as part of a special commission, was sent to England. Thanks to Ioffe’s recommendation, he manages to get a job at the Cavendish Laboratory under Ernest Rutherford, and on July 22, Kapitsa begins working in Cambridge. The young Soviet scientist quickly earned the respect of his colleagues and management thanks to his talent as an engineer and experimenter. His work in the field of superstrong magnetic fields brought him wide fame in scientific circles. At first, the relationship between Rutherford and Kapitsa was not easy, but gradually the Soviet physicist managed to win his trust and they soon became very close friends. Kapitsa gave Rutherford the famous nickname “crocodile”. Already in 1921, when the famous experimenter Robert Wood visited the Cavendish Laboratory, Rutherford instructed Peter Kapitsa to conduct a spectacular demonstration experiment in front of the famous guest.

The topic of his doctoral dissertation, which Kapitsa defended at Cambridge in 1922, was “The passage of alpha particles through matter and methods for producing magnetic fields.” Since January 1925, Kapitsa has been deputy director of the Cavendish Laboratory for Magnetic Research. In 1929, Kapitsa was elected a full member of the Royal Society of London. In November 1930, the Council of the Royal Society decided to allocate £15,000 for the construction of a special laboratory for Kapitsa in Cambridge. The grand opening of the Mond laboratory (named after the industrialist and philanthropist Mond) took place on February 3, 1933. Kapitsa is elected Messel Professor of the Royal Society. The leader of the Conservative Party of England, former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, noted in his opening speech:

Kapitsa maintains ties with the USSR and in every possible way promotes the international scientific exchange of experience. The International Series of Monographs in Physics, published by Oxford University Press, of which Kapitsa was one of the editors, publishes monographs by Georgy Gamov, Yakov Frenkel, and Nikolai Semyonov. At his invitation, Yuli Khariton and Kirill Sinelnikov come to England for an internship.

Back in 1922, Fyodor Shcherbatskoy spoke about the possibility of electing Pyotr Kapitsa to the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1929, a number of leading scientists signed a proposal for election to the USSR Academy of Sciences. On February 22, 1929, the Permanent Secretary of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Oldenburg, informed Kapitsa that: “The Academy of Sciences, wishing to express its deep respect for your scientific achievements in the field of physical sciences, elected you at the General Meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences on February 13 of this year. as its corresponding members."

Return to the USSR

The XVII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks appreciated the significant contribution of scientists and specialists to the success of the country's industrialization and the implementation of the first five-year plan. However, at the same time, the rules for the travel of specialists abroad became more strict and their implementation was now monitored by a special commission.

Numerous cases of non-return of Soviet scientists did not go unnoticed. In 1936, V.N. Ipatiev and A.E. Chichibabin were deprived of Soviet citizenship and expelled from the Academy of Sciences for remaining abroad after a business trip. A similar story with young scientists: G. A. Gamov and F. G. Dobzhansky had a wide resonance in scientific circles.

Kapitsa's activities in Cambridge did not go unnoticed. The authorities were especially concerned about the fact that Kapitsa provided consultations to European industrialists. According to historian Vladimir Yesakov, long before 1934, a plan related to Kapitsa was developed and Stalin knew about it. From August to October 1934, a series of Politburo resolutions, signed by Kaganovich, were adopted, ordering the detention of the scientist in the USSR. The final resolution read:

Until 1934, Kapitsa and his family lived in England and regularly came to the USSR on vacation and to see relatives. The USSR government several times invited him to stay in his homeland, but the scientist invariably refused. At the end of August, Pyotr Leonidovich, as in previous years, was going to visit his mother and take part in the international congress dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dmitry Mendeleev.

After arriving in Leningrad on September 21, 1934, Kapitsa was summoned to Moscow, to the Council of People's Commissars where he met with Pyatakov. The Deputy People's Commissar of Heavy Industry recommended that we carefully consider the offer to stay. Kapitsa refused and he was sent to a higher authority to see Mezhlauk. The Chairman of the State Planning Committee informed the scientist that traveling abroad was impossible and the visa was cancelled. Kapitsa was forced to move in with his mother, and his wife, Anna Alekseevna, went to Cambridge to visit her children alone. The English press, commenting on what happened, wrote that Professor Kapitsa was forcibly detained in the USSR.

Pyotr Leonidovich was deeply disappointed. At first, I even wanted to leave physics and switch to biophysics, becoming Pavlov’s assistant. He asked Paul Langevin, Albert Einstein and Ernest Rutherford for help and intervention. In a letter to Rutherford, he wrote that he had barely recovered from the shock of what had happened and thanked the teacher for helping his family remain in England. Rutherford wrote a letter to the USSR Plenipotentiary Representative in England for clarification as to why the famous physicist was being refused to return to Cambridge. In a response letter, he was informed that Kapitsa’s return to the USSR was dictated by the accelerated development of Soviet science and industry planned in the five-year plan.

1934-1941

The first months in the USSR were difficult - there was no work and no certainty about the future. I had to live in cramped conditions in a communal apartment with Pyotr Leonidovich’s mother. His friends Nikolai Semyonov, Alexei Bakh, and Fyodor Shcherbatskoy helped him a lot at that moment. Gradually, Pyotr Leonidovich came to his senses and agreed to continue working in his specialty. As a condition, he demanded that the Mondov laboratory, in which he worked, be transported to the USSR. If Rutherford refuses to transfer or sell the equipment, then duplicates of the unique instruments will need to be purchased. By decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, 30 thousand pounds sterling was allocated for the purchase of equipment.

On December 23, 1934, Vyacheslav Molotov signed a decree on organizing the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP) within the USSR Academy of Sciences. On January 3, 1935, the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia reported the appointment of Kapitsa as director of the new institute. At the beginning of 1935, Kapitsa moved from Leningrad to Moscow - to the Metropol Hotel, and received a personal car. In May 1935, construction began on the institute's laboratory building on Vorobyovy Gory. After rather difficult negotiations with Rutherford and Cockcroft (Kapitsa did not take part in them), it was possible to reach an agreement on the conditions for transferring the laboratory to the USSR. Between 1935 and 1937, equipment was gradually received from England. The matter was greatly delayed due to the sluggishness of the officials involved in the delivery and it became necessary to write letters to the top leadership of the USSR, right up to Stalin. As a result, we managed to get everything that Pyotr Leonidovich required. Two experienced engineers came to Moscow to help with installation and setup - mechanic Pearson and laboratory assistant Lauerman.

In his letters of the late 1930s, Kapitsa admitted that the opportunities for work in the USSR were inferior to those abroad - this was even despite the fact that he had a scientific institution at his disposal and had virtually no problems with funding. It was depressing that problems that could be solved in England with one phone call were mired in bureaucracy. The scientist’s harsh statements and the exceptional conditions created for him by the authorities did not contribute to establishing mutual understanding with colleagues in the academic environment.

In 1935, Kapitsa's candidacy was not even considered in the elections to full membership of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He repeatedly writes notes and letters about the possibilities of reforming Soviet science and the academic system to government officials, but does not receive a clear response. Several times Kapitsa took part in meetings of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, but as he himself recalled, after two or three times he “withdrew.” In organizing the work of the Institute of Physical Problems, Kapitsa did not receive any serious help and relied mainly on his own strength.

In January 1936, Anna Alekseevna returned from England with her children and the Kapitsa family moved to a cottage built on the territory of the institute. By March 1937, the construction of the new institute was completed, most of the instruments were transported and installed, and Kapitsa returned to active scientific work. At the same time, a “kapichnik” began working at the Institute of Physical Problems - the famous seminar of Pyotr Leonidovich, which soon gained all-Union fame.

In January 1938, Kapitsa published an article in the journal Nature about a fundamental discovery - the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium and continued research in a new direction of physics. At the same time, the team of the institute headed by Pyotr Leonidovich is actively working on the purely practical task of improving the design of a new installation for the production of liquid air and oxygen - a turboexpander. The academician’s fundamentally new approach to the functioning of cryogenic installations is causing heated discussions both in the USSR and abroad. However, Kapitsa’s activities receive approval and the institute he heads is held up as an example of the effective organization of the scientific process. At the general meeting of the Department of Mathematical and Natural Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences on January 24, 1939, Kapitsa was accepted as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences by unanimous vote.

War and post-war years

During the war, the IFP was evacuated to Kazan, and Pyotr Leonidovich’s family moved there from Leningrad. During war years, the need for the production of liquid oxygen and air on an industrial scale increases sharply. Kapitsa is working on introducing into production the oxygen cryogenic plant he developed. In 1942, the first copy of “Object No. 1” - the TK-200 turbo-oxygen installation with a capacity of up to 200 kg/h of liquid oxygen - was manufactured and put into operation at the beginning of 1943. In 1945, “Object No. 2” was commissioned - a TK-2000 installation with a productivity ten times greater.

At his suggestion, on May 8, 1943, by decree of the State Defense Committee, the Main Directorate for Oxygen was created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, and Pyotr Kapitsa was appointed head of the Main Oxygen Department. In 1945, a special institute of oxygen engineering - VNIIKIMASH - was organized and a new magazine "Oxygen" began to be published. In 1945, Kapitsa was awarded the gold star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, and the institute he headed was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

In addition to practical activities, Kapitsa also finds time for teaching. On October 1, 1943, Kapitsa was appointed to the position of head of the Department of Low Temperatures at the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University. In 1944, at the time of the change of the head of the department, he became the main author of a letter from 14 academicians, which drew the government’s attention to the situation at the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University. As a result, the head of the department after Igor Tamm was not Anatoly Vlasov, but Vladimir Fok. Having worked in this position for a short time, Fok left this post two months later. Kapitsa signed a letter from four academicians to Molotov, the author of which was A.F. Ioffe. This letter initiated the resolution of the confrontation between the so-called "academic" And "university" physics.

Meanwhile, in the second half of 1945, immediately after the end of the war, the Soviet atomic project entered an active phase. On August 20, 1945, the Atomic Special Committee was created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by Lavrentiy Beria. The committee initially included only two physicists. Kurchatov was appointed scientific supervisor of all works. Kapitsa, who was not a specialist in nuclear physics, was assigned to head certain areas (low-temperature technology for separating uranium isotopes). Kapitsa immediately became dissatisfied with Beria’s leadership methods. He speaks very impartially and sharply about the General Commissioner of State Security - both personally and professionally. On October 3, 1945, Kapitsa writes a letter to Stalin asking him to be released from his work on the Committee. There was no answer. On November 25, Kapitsa writes a second letter, more detailed (8 pages). December 21, 1945 Stalin allows Kapitsa to resign.

Actually, in the second letter, Kapitsa described how necessary, in his opinion, to implement the nuclear project, defining in detail an action plan for two years. As the biographers of the academician believe, Kapitsa at that time did not know that Kurchatov and Beria at that time already had data on the American atomic program received by Soviet intelligence. The plan proposed by Kapitsa, although it was quite quick in execution, was not fast enough for the current political situation around the development of the first Soviet atomic bomb. In historical literature it is often mentioned that Stalin conveyed to Beria, who proposed to arrest the independent and sharp-minded academician: “I’ll take him off for you, but don’t touch him.” Authoritative biographers of Pyotr Leonidovich do not confirm the historical accuracy of such words of Stalin, although it is known that Kapitsa allowed himself behavior that was completely exceptional for a Soviet scientist and citizen. According to historian Lauren Graham, Stalin valued Kapitsa's frankness and frankness. Kapitsa, despite the severity of the problems they raised, kept his messages to Soviet leaders secret (the contents of most of the letters were revealed after his death) and did not widely propagate his ideas.

At the same time, in 1945-1946, the controversy surrounding the turboexpander and the industrial production of liquid oxygen intensified again. Kapitsa enters into a discussion with leading Soviet cryogenic engineers who do not recognize him as a specialist in this field. The State Commission recognizes the promise of Kapitsa’s developments, but believes that launch into an industrial series will be premature. Kapitsa's installations are dismantled, and the project is frozen.

On August 17, 1946, Kapitsa was removed from the post of director of the IPP. He retires to the state dacha, to Nikolina Mountain. Instead of Kapitsa, Alexandrov is appointed director of the institute. According to academician Feinberg, at that time Kapitsa was “in exile, under house arrest.” The dacha was the property of Pyotr Leonovich, but the property and furniture inside were mostly state-owned and were almost completely taken away. In 1950, he was fired from the Faculty of Physics and Technology of Moscow State University, where he lectured.

In his memoirs, Pyotr Leonidovich wrote about persecution by security forces, direct surveillance initiated by Lavrentiy Beria. Nevertheless, the academician does not abandon scientific activity and continues research in the field of low temperature physics, separation of uranium and hydrogen isotopes, and improves his knowledge of mathematics. Thanks to the assistance of the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Sergei Vavilov, it was possible to obtain a minimum set of laboratory equipment and install it at the dacha. In numerous letters to Molotov and Malenkov, Kapitsa writes about experiments carried out in artisanal conditions and asks for the opportunity to return to normal work. In December 1949, Kapitsa, despite the invitation, ignored the ceremonial meeting at Moscow State University dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Stalin.

Last years

The situation changed only in 1953 after the death of Stalin and the arrest of Beria. On June 3, 1955, Kapitsa, after a meeting with Khrushchev, returned to the post of director of the IFP. At the same time, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the country's leading physics journal, the Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics. Since 1956, Kapitsa has been one of the organizers and first head of the Department of Physics and Low Temperature Engineering at MIPT. In 1957-1984 - member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Kapitsa continues active scientific and teaching activities. During this period, the scientist's attention was attracted by the properties of plasma, the hydrodynamics of thin layers of liquid, and even the nature of ball lightning. He continues to lead a seminar where the best physicists in the country are considered an honor to speak. “Kapichnik” became a kind of scientific club where not only physicists were invited, but also representatives of other sciences, cultural and artistic figures.

In addition to achievements in science, Kapitsa proved himself as an administrator and organizer. Under his leadership, the Institute of Physical Problems became one of the most productive institutions of the USSR Academy of Sciences, attracting many of the country's leading specialists. In 1964, the academician expressed the idea of ​​​​creating a popular scientific publication for young people. The first issue of the Kvant magazine was published in 1970. Kapitsa took part in the creation of the Academgorodok research center near Novosibirsk, and a new type of higher education institution - the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The gas liquefaction plants built by Kapitsa, after a long controversy in the late 1940s, found wide application in industry. The use of oxygen for oxygen blasting revolutionized the steel industry.

In 1965, for the first time after a break of more than thirty years, Kapitsa received permission to leave the Soviet Union for Denmark to receive the Niels Bohr International Gold Medal. There he visited scientific laboratories and gave a lecture on high-energy physics. In 1969, the scientist and his wife visited the United States for the first time.

In recent years, Kapitsa has become interested in controlled thermonuclear reactions. In 1978, academician Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for fundamental inventions and discoveries in the field of low-temperature physics.” The academician received the news of the award while on vacation at the Barvikha sanatorium. Kapitsa, contrary to tradition, dedicated his Nobel speech not to the works that were awarded the prize, but to modern research. Kapitsa referred to the fact that he moved away from questions in the field of low-temperature physics about 30 years ago and is now fascinated by other ideas. The Nobel laureate's speech was entitled “Plasma and the controlled thermonuclear reaction.” Sergei Petrovich Kapitsa recalled that his father completely kept the bonus for himself (he deposited it in his name in one of the Swedish banks) and did not give anything to the state.

Until the last days of his life, Kapitsa maintained an interest in scientific activities, continued to work in the laboratory and remained as director of the Institute of Physical Problems.

On March 22, 1984, Pyotr Leonidovich felt unwell and was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a stroke. On April 8, without regaining consciousness, Kapitsa died. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Scientific heritage

Works 1920-1980

One of the first significant scientific works (together with Nikolai Semenov, 1918) was devoted to measuring the magnetic moment of an atom in a non-uniform magnetic field, which was improved in 1922 in the so-called Stern-Gerlach experiment.

While working at Cambridge, Kapitsa became closely involved in research into superstrong magnetic fields and their influence on the trajectory of elementary particles. Kapitsa was one of the first to place a cloud chamber in a strong magnetic field in 1923 and observed the curvature of the tracks of alpha particles. In 1924, he obtained a magnetic field with an induction of 320 kilogauss in a volume of 2 cm3. In 1928, he formulated the law of linear increase in the electrical resistance of a number of metals depending on the magnetic field strength (Kapitsa's law).

The creation of equipment for studying the effects associated with the influence of strong magnetic fields on the properties of matter, in particular magnetic resistance, led Kapitsa to the problems of low temperature physics. To carry out the experiments, first of all, it was necessary to have a significant amount of liquefied gases. The methods that existed in the 1920-1930s were ineffective. Developing fundamentally new refrigeration machines and installations, Kapitsa in 1934, using an original engineering approach, built a high-performance gas liquefaction plant. He managed to develop a process that eliminated the compression phase and highly purified air. Now there was no need to compress the air to 200 atmospheres - five was enough. Due to this, it was possible to increase the efficiency from 0.65 to 0.85-0.90, and reduce the installation price by almost ten times. In the course of work to improve the turboexpander, it was possible to overcome the interesting engineering problem of freezing of the lubricant of moving parts at low temperatures - liquid helium itself was used for lubrication. The scientist’s significant contribution was not only to the development of an experimental sample, but also to bringing the technology to mass production.

In the post-war years, Kapitsa was attracted to high-power electronics. He developed the general theory of magnetron-type electronic devices and created continuous magnetron generators. Kapitsa put forward a hypothesis about the nature of ball lightning. Experimentally discovered the formation of high-temperature plasma in a high-frequency discharge. Kapitsa expressed a number of original ideas, for example, the destruction of nuclear weapons in the air using powerful beams of electromagnetic waves. In recent years, he has worked on issues of thermonuclear fusion and the problem of confining high-temperature plasma in a magnetic field.

The “Kapitsa pendulum” is named after Kapitsa - a mechanical phenomenon demonstrating stability outside of an equilibrium position. The quantum mechanical Kapitza-Dirac effect is also known, demonstrating the scattering of electrons in the field of a standing electromagnetic wave.

Discovery of superfluidity

Kamerlingh Onnes, while studying the properties of the liquid helium he first obtained, noted its unusually high thermal conductivity. A liquid with anomalous physical properties attracted the attention of scientists. Thanks to the Kapitsa installation, which began operating in 1934, it was possible to obtain liquid helium in significant quantities. Kamerlingh Onnes in his first experiments obtained about 60 cm3 of helium, while Kapitsa's first installation had a productivity of about 2 liters per hour. The events of 1934-1937 associated with excommunication from work at the Mondov laboratory and forced detention in the USSR greatly delayed the progress of research. Only in 1937 did Kapitsa restore the laboratory equipment and return to his previous work in the field of low-temperature physics at the new institute. Meanwhile, at Kapitsa’s former workplace, at the invitation of Rutherford, young Canadian scientists John Allen and Austin Meisner began working in the same field. Kapitsa’s experimental installation for producing liquid helium remained in the Mondov laboratory - Alain and Maizner worked with it. In November 1937, they obtained reliable experimental results on changes in the properties of helium.

Historians of science, talking about the events at the turn of 1937-1938, note that there are some controversial points in the competition between the priorities of Kapitza and Allen with Jones. Pyotr Leonidovich formally sent materials to Nature before his foreign competitors - the editors received them on December 3, 1937, but were in no hurry to publish, awaiting verification. Knowing that the verification could take a long time, Kapitsa clarified in a letter that the proofs could be checked by John Cockroft, director of the Mondov laboratory. Cockroft, having read the article, informed his employees, Allen and Jones, about it, hastening them to publish it. Cockcroft, a close friend of Kapitsa, was surprised that Kapitsa only let him know about the fundamental discovery at the last moment. It is worth noting that back in June 1937, Kapitsa, in a letter to Niels Bohr, reported that he had made significant progress in the research of liquid helium.

As a result, both articles were published in the same issue of Nature dated January 8, 1938. They reported an abrupt change in the viscosity of helium at temperatures below 2.17 Kelvin. The difficulty of the problem solved by the scientists was that it was not easy to accurately measure the viscosity of the liquid that flowed freely into the half-micron hole. The resulting turbulence of the liquid introduced a significant error into the measurement. Scientists have taken different experimental approaches. Allen and Meisner looked at the behavior of helium-II in thin capillaries (the same technique was used by the discoverer of liquid helium, Kamerlingh Onnes). Kapitsa studied the behavior of the liquid between two polished disks and estimated the resulting viscosity value to be below 10−9 P. Kapitsa called the new phase state helium superfluidity. The Soviet scientist did not deny that the contribution to the discovery was largely joint. For example, in his lecture, Kapitsa emphasized that the unique phenomenon of helium-II gushing was first observed and described by Alain and Meisner.

These works were followed by a theoretical substantiation of the observed phenomenon. It was given in 1939-1941 by Lev Landau, Fritz London and Laszlo Tissa, who proposed the so-called two-fluid model. Kapitsa himself continued his research on helium-II in 1938-1941, in particular confirming the speed of sound in liquid helium predicted by Landau. The study of liquid helium as a quantum liquid (Bose-Einstein Condensate) has become an important direction in physics, producing a number of remarkable scientific works. Lev Landau received the Nobel Prize in 1962 in recognition of his achievements in constructing a theoretical model of the superfluidity of liquid helium.

Niels Bohr recommended the candidacy of Pyotr Leonidovich to the Nobel Committee three times: in 1948, 1956 and 1960. However, the award of the prize occurred only in 1978. The contradictory situation with the priority of the discovery, in the opinion of many scientific researchers, led to the fact that the Nobel Committee delayed for many years in awarding the prize to the Soviet physicist. Allen and Meisner were not awarded the prize, although the scientific community recognizes their important contributions to the discovery of the phenomenon.

civil position

In 1966, he signed a letter from 25 cultural and scientific figures to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev against the rehabilitation of Stalin.

Historians of science and those who knew Pyotr Leonidovich closely described him as a multifaceted and unique personality. He combined many qualities: intuition and engineering flair of an experimental physicist; pragmatism and business approach of the organizer of science; independence of judgment in dealing with authorities.

If any organizational issues needed to be resolved, Kapitsa preferred not to make phone calls, but to write a letter and clearly state the essence of the matter. This form of address required an equally clear written response. Kapitsa believed that it was more difficult to wrap up a case in a letter than in a telephone conversation. In defending his civic position, Kapitsa was consistent and persistent, writing about 300 messages to the top leaders of the USSR, touching on the most pressing topics. As Yuri Osipyan wrote, he knew how it is reasonable to combine destructive pathos with creative activity.

There are known examples of how, during the difficult times of the 1930s, Kapitsa defended his colleagues who came under the suspicion of security forces. Academicians Fock and Landau owe the liberation to Kapitsa. Landau was released from the NKVD prison under the personal guarantee of Pyotr Leonidovich. The formal pretext was the need for support from a theoretical physicist to substantiate the model of superconductivity. Meanwhile, the charges against Landau were extremely serious, since he openly opposed the authorities and actually participated in the dissemination of counter-revolutionary materials.

Kapitsa also defended the disgraced Andrei Sakharov. In 1968, at a meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Keldysh called on members of the academy to condemn Sakharov and Kapitsa spoke in his defense, saying that one cannot speak out against a person if one has not been able to first become acquainted with what he wrote. In 1978, when Keldysh once again invited Kapitsa to sign a collective letter, he remembered how the Prussian Academy of Sciences excluded Einstein from its membership and refused to sign the letter.

On February 8, 1956 (two weeks before the 20th Congress of the CPSU), Nikolai Timofeev-Resovsky and Igor Tamm made a report on the problems of modern genetics at a meeting of Kapitsa’s physics seminar. For the first time since 1948, an official scientific meeting was held dedicated to the problems of the disgraced science of genetics, which Lysenko’s supporters in the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences and in the Central Committee of the CPSU tried to disrupt. Kapitsa entered into a debate with Lysenko, trying to offer him an improved method of experimentally testing the perfection of the square-cluster method of tree planting. In 1973, Kapitsa wrote to Andropov with a request to release the wife of the famous dissident Vadim Delaunay. Kapitsa took an active part in the Pugwash movement, advocating the use of science exclusively for peaceful purposes.

Even during the Stalinist purges, Kapitsa maintained a scientific exchange of experience, friendly relations and correspondence with foreign scientists. They came to Moscow and visited the Kapitsa Institute. So in 1937, the American physicist William Webster visited Kapitza’s laboratory. Kapitsa's friend Paul Dirac visited the USSR several times.

Kapitsa always believed that the continuity of generations in science is of great importance and the life of a scientist in a scientific environment takes on real meaning if he leaves students. He strongly encouraged work with youth and training of personnel. So in the 1930s, when liquid helium was very rare even in the best laboratories in the world, MSU students could get it in the IPP laboratory for experiments.

Under the conditions of a one-party system and a planned socialist economy, Kapitsa led the institute as he himself considered necessary. Initially, he was appointed by Leopold Olbert as a “party deputy” from above. A year later, Kapitsa gets rid of him, choosing his own deputy - Olga Alekseevna Stetskaya. At one time, the institute did not have a head of the personnel department at all, and Pyotr Leonidovich himself was in charge of personnel issues. He managed the institute’s budget quite freely on his own, regardless of the schemes imposed from above. It is known that Pyotr Leonidovich, seeing the chaos on the territory, ordered the dismissal of two of the three janitors of the institute and the remaining one to be paid triple salary. The Institute of Physical Problems employed only 15-20 researchers, and in total there were about two hundred people, while usually the staff of a specialized research institute of those times (for example, Lebedev Physical Institute or Physics and Technology) numbered several thousand employees. Kapitsa entered into polemics about the methods of running a socialist economy, speaking very freely about comparisons with the capitalist world.

Family and personal life

Father - Leonid Petrovich Kapitsa (1864-1919), major general of the engineering corps, who built the Kronstadt forts, a graduate of the Nikolaev Military Engineering and Technical School in St. Petersburg, who came from the Polish noble family of Kapits-Milevsky.

Mother - Olga Ieronimovna Kapitsa (1866-1937), née Stebnitskaya, teacher, specialist in children's literature and folklore. Her father Hieronim Ivanovich Stebnicki (1832-1897), a cartographer, corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, was the chief cartographer and surveyor of the Caucasus, so she was born in Tiflis. Then she came from Tiflis to St. Petersburg and entered the Bestuzhev courses. She taught at the preschool department of the Pedagogical Institute named after. Herzen.

In 1916, Kapitsa married Nadezhda Chernosvitova. Her father, a member of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, State Duma deputy Kirill Chernosvitov, was later, in 1919, shot. From his first marriage, Pyotr Leonidovich had children:

• Jerome (June 22, 1917 - December 13, 1919, Petrograd)
• Nadezhda (January 6, 1920 - January 8, 1920, Petrograd).

They died along with their mother from the Spanish flu. They were all buried in one grave, at the Smolensk Lutheran Cemetery in St. Petersburg. Pyotr Leonidovich grieved the loss and, as he himself recalled, only his mother brought him back to life.

In October 1926, in Paris, Kapitsa became closely acquainted with Anna Krylova (1903-1996). In April 1927 they got married. It is interesting that Anna Krylova was the first to propose marriage. Pyotr Leonidovich knew her father, academician Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov, for a very long time, since the time of the 1921 commission. From his second marriage, two sons were born into the Kapitsa family:

• Sergei (February 14, 1928, Cambridge)
• Andrey (July 9, 1931, Cambridge - August 2, 2011, Moscow). They returned to the USSR in January 1936.

Pyotr Leonidovich lived with Anna Alekseevna for 57 years. His wife helped Pyotr Leonidovich in preparing manuscripts. After the death of the scientist, she organized a museum in his house.

In his free time, Pyotr Leonidovich was fond of chess. While working in England, he won the Cambridgeshire County Chess Championship. He loved making household utensils and furniture in his own workshop. Repaired antique watches.

Awards and prizes

• Hero of Socialist Labor (1945, 1974)
• Nobel Prize in Physics (1978)
• Stalin Prize (1941, 1943)
• Gold medal named after. Lomonosov Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1959)
• Medals named after Faraday (England, 1943), Franklin (USA, 1944), Niels Bohr (Denmark, 1965), Rutherford (England, 1966), Kamerlingh Onnes (Netherlands, 1968)

Bibliography

• “Everything simple is true” (To the 100th anniversary of the birth of P. L. Kapitsa). edited by P. Rubinina, M.: MIPT, 1994. ISBN 5-7417-0003-9
• A selection of articles by P.L. Kapitsa

Books about P. L. Kapitsa

• Baldin A. M. et al.: Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa. Memories. Letters. Documentation.
• Esakov V. D., Rubinin P. E. Kapitsa, the Kremlin and science. - M.: Nauka, 2003. - T. T.1: Creation of the Institute of Physical Problems: 1934-1938. - 654 s. - ISBN 5-02-006281-2
• Dobrovolsky E. N.: Kapitsa's handwriting.
• Kedrov F. B.: Kapitsa. Life and discoveries.
• Andronikashvili E. L.: Memories of liquid helium.

Petr Leonidovich Kapitsa

Kapitsa Petr Leonidovich (1894-1984), Russian physicist, one of the founders of low temperature physics and the physics of strong magnetic fields, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1945, 1974). In 1921-34 on a scientific trip to Great Britain. Organizer and first director (1935-46 and since 1955) of the Institute of Physical Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Discovered the superfluidity of liquid helium (1938). He developed a method for liquefying air using a turboexpander, a new type of powerful ultra-high-frequency generator. He discovered that a high-frequency discharge in dense gases produces a stable plasma cord with an electron temperature of 105-106 K. USSR State Prize (1941, 1943), Nobel Prize (1978). Gold medal named after Lomonosov of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1959).

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was born on July 9, 1894 in Kronstadt in the family of a military engineer, General Leonid Petrovich Kapitsa, builder of the Kronstadt fortifications. Peter first studied for a year at the gymnasium, and then at the Kronstadt real school.

In 1912, Kapitsa entered the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. In the same year, Kapitsa's first article appeared in the Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society.

In 1918, Ioffe founded one of the first Russian physics research institutes in Petrograd. Having graduated from the Polytechnic Institute that same year, Peter was retained there as a teacher in the Faculty of Physics and Mechanics.

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa(June 26 (July 8) 1894, Kronstadt - April 8, 1984, Moscow) - engineer, physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939).

“Life is an incomprehensible thing... I think that people will never be able to understand human destiny, especially one as complex as mine. It is such an intricate combination of all kinds of phenomena that it is better not to wonder about its logical consistency...” - This is what P. L. Kapitsa wrote to E. Rutherford at a difficult moment in his life.

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was born on July 8, 1894. A major experimental physicist, one of the founders of low temperature physics. He discovered the superfluidity of liquid helium at temperatures below 2.17 K, a method for producing superstrong magnetic fields, producing liquid helium on an industrial scale, and many other physical phenomena, and established a number of regularities.

He was distinguished by his wit, independence and courage, established unique relationships with foreign scientists and the Soviet government, and played an important public role. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate in physics 1978. Founder of the Mondov Laboratory of the University of Cambridge (England), the Institute of Physical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Dry lines from the Internet. But few people know about the scientist’s courage and integrity, which saved the lives of his colleagues during the mass repressions of the late 30s of the 20th century.

In 1935, he sent a sharp letter to the head of the USSR government in defense of the talented mathematician N.N. Luzin, against whom a case was opened. It was thanks to his intercession that Luzin was not arrested. In 1937, the outstanding theoretical physicist Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fok was arrested. Intercession of P.L. Kapitsa saved the scientist’s life again. In 1938, the future Nobel laureate was arrested, and at that time the head of theorists at the Institute of Physical Problems (IFN) L.D. Landau. Kapitsa’s intercession again saved the life of the repressed scientist.

Soviet scientist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa founded the Institute of Physical Problems. In 1978 he won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of superfluidity of liquid helium.

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (1894-1984) is a Russian physicist who developed as a scientist at the Cavendish Laboratory when Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) still reigned there. Kapitsa arrived in Cambridge as a young man: he had just finished his studies in Moscow and was looking for an opportunity to talk with Rutherford - he had already decided for himself that he would work for this great man.

Cavendish Laboratory is the alma mater of many prominent scientists, including Pyotr Kapitsa

Rutherford refused to consider Kapitsa's candidacy, since the laboratory already had too many employees. Suddenly a young Russian asked him: “How many graduate students do you have?” “About thirty,” was the answer. Then Kapitsa asked: “What is the usual accuracy of your experiments?” - “Two or three percent.” Kapitsa beamed: “That’s great! Another graduate student is well within the margin of error, and no one will even notice anything.”

Ernest Rutherford - founding father of the science called nuclear physics and creator of the planetary model of the atom

Rutherford could not object to such a witty request. Soon Kapitsa became his favorite; he simply charmed Rutherford. As a staff member of the Cavendish Laboratory, Kapitsa conducted important research in low-temperature physics.

“Of all the people I have known throughout my life, Professor Rutherford has had the greatest influence on me. In relation to him, I not only experienced feelings of great admiration and respect, I loved him as a son loves his father. And I will always remember how kindly he treated me, how much he did for me,” P. L. Kapitsa later wrote.

On July 22, 1921, P. L. Kapitsa began working for Rutherford, measuring the energy loss of an alpha particle at the end of its path. Very soon, Kapitsa became a kind of legend in Cambridge due to his achievement of record magnetic fields, eccentricity and unusual position (a prominent representative of the British scientific elite, a full member of the Royal Society, a member of Three Threads College, deputy director of the Cavendish Laboratory for Magnetic Research, etc.) . At the same time, he remained a Soviet citizen and a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Kapitsa at the Rutherford Laboratory in Cambridge (1925), but with his own installation for obtaining the strongest magnetic fields at that time. At this moment, Rutherford's laboratory became crowded...

Kapitsa's experimental facilities in Rutherford's laboratory become crowded and Sir Ernst Rutherford convinces the English government to build the largest laboratory in England (now the famous Mondov Laboratory) for Kapitsa's experiments on ultra-high magnetic fields. Such a laboratory was built, and on February 3, 1933 its grand opening took place. On behalf of the University of Cambridge, the laboratory was “accepted” as a gift from the Royal Society by the University Chancellor, leader of the Conservative Party of England, former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. The next day, leading English newspapers published detailed reports about this important event in scientific life, and The Times published the full text of Baldwin’s speech: “We are happy that Professor Kapitsa, who so brilliantly combines in his personality, works as our laboratory director,” he said. both physicist and engineer. We are convinced that under his skillful leadership the new laboratory will make its contribution to the knowledge of natural processes."

An incident occurred at the opening. When the distinguished guests approached the laboratory building, everyone saw a mosaic of a crocodile (by the famous artist Gill) on the facade of the building. Everyone was stunned. For it was well known that Kapitsa nicknamed Rutherford a crocodile and this nickname quickly took root in Cambridge... Rutherford had a very tough temper and everyone expected an explosion of emotions. Rutherford turned white with anger, but restrained himself and did not say anything... But when everyone entered the laboratory hall, everyone saw in the most prominent place a beautiful bas-relief of Rutherford, made by the same artist Gill. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and only Rutherford said in his loud voice: “It seems this Russian considers me not a crocodile, but a donkey...” But that was where his anger ended. The English public was divided into two classes regarding this event - some considered Kapitsa’s act to be the highest degree of insult that one gentleman could inflict on another, and others believed that this was the highest degree of insult that one gentleman could forgive another...

Currently, in all art universities in England, all students are required to make drawings from both the crocodile and the Rutherford bas-relief - they have remained in the eternal attractions of the English aristocracy.

Pyotr Leonidovich and Anna Alekseevna at home in Cambridge (1930)

In 1934, as usual, he went to visit his family in Russia. He was never allowed back to England. Appeals from Western colleagues and politicians to the Soviet government did not change anything.

“I develop new instruments and apparatus for scientific research in England at English expense, and when everything is ready, I provide them to the USSR. During the development, which is very instructive, I have with me students of Soviet citizens who thus fully assimilate my experience. Being a full member Royal Society and a professor at the University of Cambridge, I am in constant communication with the highest figures of science in England and Europe and can help students sent abroad to work not only in my laboratory, but also in other laboratories, which would otherwise be difficult for them, because my assistance based not on official relations, but on mutual services and favors and personal acquaintance with leading figures."

These arguments were not taken into account by the Soviet authorities. On September 25, 1934, Kapitsa was summoned from Leningrad to Moscow, to the Council of People's Commissars. Here he was informed that from now on he must work in the USSR and his visa to travel to England would be cancelled. Kapitsa was forced to return to Leningrad, to his mother, and his wife, Anna Alekseevna, went to Cambridge to visit her children alone. In a letter to her (April 30, 1935), Pyotr Leonidovich describes how Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, with whom he was friends, reacted to this news: “When I saw him [Pavlov] for the first time, he told me: “I told you so.” always, Pyotr Leonidovich, that they are bastards, now you are convinced, you didn’t want to believe me before." He was very happy and jumped for joy. He did not pay attention to the fact that I was very upset."

Kapitsa, who had an unusually high authority, boldly defended his views even during the purges carried out by Stalin in the late 30s. When Lev Landau, an employee of the Institute of Physical Problems, was arrested in 1938 on charges of spying for Nazi Germany, Kapitsa secured his release. To do this, he had to go to the Kremlin and threaten to resign from his post as director of the institute if he refused.

In his reports to government commissioners, Kapitsa openly criticized decisions that he considered incorrect. Little is known about his activities during the Second World War in the West. In October 1941, he attracted public attention by warning about the possibility of creating an atomic bomb. He may have been the first physicist to make such a statement. (Kapitsa subsequently denied his participation in the development of both atomic and hydrogen bombs. There is quite convincing evidence to support his claims. It is unclear, however, whether his refusal was dictated by moral considerations or a difference of opinion regarding the extent to which the proposed part project is consistent with the traditions and capabilities of the Institute of Physical Problems).

Kapitsa distinguished himself by the fact that in Russia he resolutely spoke out in defense of his colleagues who came into conflict with the Stalinist regime, and probably saved many of them from death in the Gulag. Stalin clearly had a soft spot for this brave and determined man, and protected him from the insidious head of the NKVD, Beria, who wanted to deal with him. Nevertheless, Kapitsa spent five years under house arrest, doing science to the best of his ability in a laboratory that he built on his own in a barn and where his son helped him. Only in his old age was Kapitsa allowed to travel abroad to receive a belated Nobel Prize and to visit Cambridge out of sentimentality.

On June 21, 1994, a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was held in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. Speakers included members of the government, the president of the Academy of Sciences, students, friends and employees of Kapitsa. About a thousand people were present in the hall.

At the end of the meeting, the scientist’s widow, Anna Alekseevna, rose to the podium. The frail, gray-haired woman, who turned 91 that year, read a speech in memory of her husband, a speech so unusual that the audience listened to her with bated breath, and when she left the podium, everyone applauded her while standing.

"...All my life I have been myself, -
This is why we argued with you"

G. Ibsen. "Peer Gynt"

Pyotr Leonidovich knew and loved Ibsen’s drama “Peer Gynt” well and sometimes remembered the “button maker” - a mysterious character who melts down old tin buttons. I somehow didn’t think about these words.

Now, remembering our life, I re-read Peer Gynt, and how vividly the image of Pyotr Leonidovich appeared before me! His whole life resembles the drama of Peer Gynt. Constantly terrible, deadly dangers, obstacles on the path of life, and all the time a struggle with fate. “Be yourself” is Per’s motto and this is the motto of Pyotr Leonidovich’s entire life.

How many times does one soar to happiness and glory - and then a blow of fate, but at all costs one must rise again, assert oneself as a person, as a scientist - “to be oneself.”

No obstacles thrown by fate on his life's path could stop Pyotr Leonidovich. If the bride is in China and there is a world war, he rushes to China for Nadya. Devastation, war, hunger, cold, death of those closest to me, unwillingness to live, the horror of loss for the first time. But if you survive, you must fight for your place as a scientist, in love with science, this eternal love never changes!

But fate is not powerless here either - again a blow to the most dear, to the scientific path, to work as much as possible, but this too must be overcome with enormous mental anguish, you cannot give up, you cannot lose “yourself.”

Sometimes there were respites, but not for long. Evil wins again, it seems to follow<.. .>Pyotr Leonidovich, and he has to choose between good and evil, and it was not always easy. But Pyotr Leonidovich never acted against his conscience.

Life and work in England were necessary, [but] this forced exile always stirred his soul. Pyotr Leonidovich's trips to the Union, his help to his relatives, separation from his beloved mother, letters from Semenov calling back, all possible help to Russian science - all this was on his soul, but we must work, science comes first! But mother, brother. Homeland, friends - the thought of them never left his mind.

Just like Peer Gynt, Pyotr Leonidovich on his way encountered a blank wall of human misunderstanding; he was a stranger everywhere - both in his own country and in a foreign land.

Like Per, Pyotr Leonidovich had many hobbies, but [after the death of his first family] he did not connect his life with anyone before me. We met, and he liked my spontaneity, my naivety in life, my hobbies in archeology and art. I was spoiled by life and went through life without seeing anything. Mom saved me from the evil that surrounded us, she took everything upon herself. Having lost four of her five children, she couldn't lose me. But I didn’t understand any of this. My personality prevents me from expressing my feelings openly. That's why I couldn't be Solveig.

But we created the family he so desired. Love for his sons changed a lot in the character of Pyotr Leonidovich. The only thing he never forgave was deception and double-dealing. I always tried to be a strong support, I never wanted to go the other way, only with Pyotr Leonidovich, and this was an urgent need, especially when we began to live in Moscow. Our life was based on loyalty to each other, on absolute confidence in support in any situation, on friendship, on a full understanding of the difference in our temperaments: stormy, restless, demanding of people - and cool and lenient towards people's shortcomings. We complemented each other well.

This confidence has made our life very happy. We needed each other. And if misunderstandings and even quarrels arose, then there was always a compromise, again uniting both characters and resolving all misunderstandings. This provided the opportunity for a further happy life together, and Pyotr Leonidovich needed a family.

We really needed confidence in a complete union; it was the basis of our entire existence. If there were disagreements on issues of vital importance, then I gave in and very rarely remained in my opinion - only when it seemed to me that Pyotr Leonidovich was not going his own way. I often misunderstood his wisdom to “stroke the wolves’ fur.” It seemed to me like a concession to my conscience. In fact, this was the wisest and most dangerous approach to the necessary capabilities for the preservation of life and science.

Many times in his life, Pyotr Leonidovich met a “button maker” with a melting spoon, but he always rejected the possibility of “melting” and remained himself.

Years passed, and Pyotr Leonidovich began to understand something very important in human destinies. This made him interested in the common fate of people around the globe. Probably, remembering his life, he began to treat people softer, more condescending to their shortcomings, but he always remained himself.

Thanks to everyone who came today to remember Pyotr Leonidovich.

Some statements by P.L. Kapitsa about life.

Life is like a card game that you play without knowing the rules.
. Each person has his own meaning in life. The one who found it is happy. And whoever doesn’t find it is unhappy. And you can’t give one answer to this question.
. You can learn to be happy in any circumstances. The only unhappy person is the one who makes a deal with his conscience.
. A person is young when he is not yet afraid to do stupid things.
. Persistence and endurance are the only strength that people reckon with.
. Life solves the most difficult problems if it is given enough time to do so.
. The main sign of talent is when a person knows what he wants.
. The first sign of a big man is that he is not afraid of mistakes.
. The basis of creative work is always a feeling of protest and discontent. This is the reason why the so-called bad character is often characteristic of creative workers.
. Agreeableness promotes personal well-being.
. Excessive modesty is an even greater disadvantage than excessive self-confidence.
. The topic of work must be changed every 8 years, since during this time the cells of the body completely change - you are already a different person.
. If a person immediately receives a large salary, then he does not grow.
. Nothing in life defines the state of things as clearly as comparison.
. An intelligent person cannot help but be progressive. Only an intelligent person endowed with courage and imagination can understand what is new and where it leads. But this is not enough. You also need to have the temperament of a fighter.
. The larger a person is, the more contradictions there are in him and the more contradictions in the tasks that life sets before him.
. The process of creativity manifests itself in any activity when a person does not have exact instructions, but must decide for himself what to do.
. The more qualified the specialist, the less specialized he is.

Up to the high levels needed for the synthesis of atomic nuclei - this is the range of Academician Kapitsa’s many years of activity. He twice became a hero of Socialist Labor, and also received the Stalin and Nobel Prizes.

Childhood

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, whose biography will be presented in this article, was born in Kronstadt in 1894. His father Leonid Petrovich was a military engineer and was engaged in the construction of Kronstadt fortifications. Mom - Olga Ieronimovna - was a specialist in folklore and children's literature.

In 1905, Petya was sent to study at the gymnasium, but due to poor academic performance (Latin is bad), the boy left it after a year. The future academician continues his studies at the Kronstadt School. He graduates with honors in 1912.

Studying at the University

Initially, Pyotr Kapitsa (see photo below) planned to study at the physics and mathematics department of St. Petersburg University, but he was not accepted there. The young man decided to try his luck at the Polytechnic, and luck smiled at him. Peter was enrolled in the electromechanical faculty. Already in his first year, Professor A.F. Ioffe drew attention to the talented young man and attracted the young man to research in his own laboratory.

Army and wedding

In 1914, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa went to Scotland. There he planned to practice English. But the First World War began, and the young man was unable to return home in August. He arrived in Petrograd only in November.

At the beginning of 1915, Peter volunteered for the Western Front. He was appointed to the position of driver of an ambulance. He also transported the wounded in his truck.

In 1916 he was demobilized, and Peter returned to the institute. Ioffe immediately loaded the young man with experimental work in the physics laboratory and invited him to participate in his own physics seminar (the first in Russia). That same year, Kapitsa published his first article. He also married Nadezhda Chernosvitova, who was the daughter of one of the members of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party.

Work at the new physics institute

In 1918, A.F. Ioffe organized the first scientific research physics institute in Russia. Pyotr Kapitsa, whose quotes can be read below, graduated from the Polytechnic this year and immediately got a job as a teacher there.

The difficult post-revolutionary situation did not bode well for science. Joffe helped maintain the seminars for his own students, among whom was Peter. He urged Kapitsa to leave Russia, but the government did not give permission for this. Maxim Gorky, who was then considered the most influential writer, helped. Peter was allowed to leave for England. Shortly before Kapitsa's departure, a flu epidemic broke out in St. Petersburg. Within a month, the young scientist lost his wife, newborn daughter, son and father.

Work in England

In May 1921, Peter came to England as part of the Russian Commission from the Academy of Sciences. The main goal of the scientists was to restore scientific ties broken by war and revolution. Two months later, physicist Pyotr Kapitsa got a job at the Cavendish Laboratory, headed by Rutherford. He accepted the young man for a short-term internship. Over time, the Russian scientist's engineering acumen and research skills made a strong impression on Rutherford.

In 1922, Kapitsa defended his doctoral dissertation at Cambridge University. His scientific authority grew in In 1923 he was awarded a Maxwell Fellowship. A year later, the scientist became deputy director of the laboratory.

New marriage

In 1925, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa visited Academician A. N. Krylov in Paris, who introduced him to his daughter Anna. Two years later she became the scientist’s wife. After the wedding, Peter bought a plot of land on Huntington Road and built a house. Soon his sons, Andrei and Sergei, will be born here.

Magnetic World Champion

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, whose biography is known to all physicists, actively continues research into the processes of nuclear transformation and He comes up with a new installation for generating stronger magnetic fields and obtains record results, 6-7 thousand times higher than the previous ones. Then Landau dubbed him the “magnetic world champion.”

Return to the USSR

While studying the properties of metals in magnetic fields, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa realized the need to change experimental conditions. Lower (gel) temperatures were required. It was in the field of low temperature physics that the scientist achieved his greatest success. But Peter Leonidovich conducted research on this topic in his homeland.

Soviet government officials regularly offered him permanent residence in the USSR. The scientist was interested in such proposals, but he always set a number of conditions, the main one of which was optional trips to the West. The government did not cooperate.

In the summer of 1934, Kapitsa and his wife visited the USSR, but when they were about to leave for England, it turned out that their visas had been cancelled. Later, Anna was allowed to return for the children and take them to Moscow. Rutherford and friends of Pyotr Alekseevich asked the Soviet government to allow Kapitsa to return to England to continue his work. It was all in vain.

In 1935, Pyotr Kapitsa, whose brief biography is known to all scientists, headed the Institute of Physical Problems at the Academy of Sciences. But before accepting this position, he demanded to buy back the equipment on which he worked abroad. By that time, Rutherford had already come to terms with the loss of a valuable employee and sold the equipment from the laboratory.

Letters to the government

Kapitsa Pyotr Leonidovich (photos attached to the article) returned to his homeland with the beginning of Stalin’s purges. Even in this difficult time, he fiercely defended his views. Knowing that everything in the country was decided by the top leadership, he regularly wrote letters, thereby trying to have a frank and direct conversation. From 1934 to 1983, the scientist sent more than 300 letters to the Kremlin. Thanks to the intervention of Pyotr Leonidovich, many scientists were rescued from prisons and camps.

Further work and discovery

No matter what was happening around him, the physicist always found time for scientific work. Using an installation delivered from England, he continued research in the field of strong magnetic fields. Employees from Cambridge took part in the experiments. These experiments continued for several years and were extremely important.

The scientist managed to improve the turbine of the device, and it began to liquefy air more efficiently. The installation did not require pre-cooling of the helium. It was automatically cooled as it expanded in a special dataender. Similar gel installations are now used in almost all countries.

In 1937, after much research in this direction, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (the Nobel Prize would be awarded to the scientist 30 years later) made a fundamental discovery. He discovered the phenomenon of helium superfluidity. The main conclusion of the study: at temperatures below 2.19 °K there is no viscosity. In subsequent years, Pyotr Leonidovich discovered other anomalous phenomena occurring in helium. For example, the spread of heat in it. Thanks to these studies, a new direction has emerged in science - the physics of quantum liquids.

Refusal to create an atomic bomb

In 1945, the Soviet Union launched a program to develop nuclear weapons. Pyotr Kapitsa, whose books were popular in scientific circles, refused to take part in it. For this he was suspended from scientific activities and put under house arrest for eight years. The scientist was also deprived of the opportunity to communicate with his colleagues. But Pyotr Leonidovich did not lose heart and, to continue his research, decided to organize a laboratory at his dacha.

It was there, in makeshift conditions, that high-power electronics were born, which became the first stage on the path to subordinating thermonuclear energy. But the scientist was able to return to full-fledged experiments only after his release in 1955. He began by studying high-temperature plasma. The discoveries made during that period formed the basis for a permanent scheme.

Some of his experiments gave a new impetus to the creativity of science fiction authors. Every writer tried to express his thoughts on this matter. Peter Kapitsa also studied ball lightning and the hydrodynamics of thin layers of liquid at that time. But his burning interest was in the properties of plasma and microwave generators.

Traveling abroad and the Nobel Prize

In 1965, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa received government permission to travel to Denmark. There he was awarded the Niels Bohr gold medal. The physicist toured local laboratories and gave a lecture on high energies. In 1969, the scientist and his wife visited the United States for the first time.

In mid-October 1978, the scientist received a telegram from the Swedish Academy of Sciences. The title included the following inscription: “Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa. Nobel Prize". The physicist received it for fundamental research in the field of low temperatures. This joyful news “overtook” the scientist while on vacation in “Barvikha” near Moscow.

Journalists interviewing him asked: “Which of your personal scientific achievements do you consider to be the most significant?” Pyotr Leonidovich said that for a scientist the most important thing is his current work. “Personally, I’m currently working on thermonuclear fusion,” he added.

Kapitsa's lecture in Stockholm at the award ceremony was unusual. Contrary to the regulations, he gave a lecture not on the topic of low-temperature physics, but about plasma and controlled thermonuclear reactions. Pyotr Leonidovich explained the reason for this liberty. The scientist said: “It was difficult for me to choose a topic for my Nobel lecture. I received an award for research in the field of low temperatures, but I have not done it for more than 30 years. At my institute, of course, they continue to research this topic, but I myself have completely switched to studying the processes necessary to carry out a thermonuclear reaction. I believe that at present this area is more interesting and relevant, as it will help in solving the problem of the impending energy crisis.”

The scientist died in 1984, just short of his 90th birthday. In conclusion, we present his most famous statements.

Quotes

“A person’s freedom can be limited in two ways: by violence or by instilling conditioned reflexes in him.”

“A man is young as long as he does stupid things.”

“Talented is the one who knows what he wants.”

“Geniuses do not give birth to an era, but are born by an era.”

“To become happy, a person must imagine himself free.”

“The one who has endurance wins. Only the exposure is not for a couple of hours, but for many years.”

“Do not gloss over, but emphasize the contradictions. They contribute to the development of science.”

“Science should be simple, exciting and fun. The same applies to scientists."

“Deceit is a necessary element of a democratic system, since the progressive principle rests on a small number of people. The desires of the majority will simply stop progress.”

“Life is like a card game that you play without knowing the rules.”

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

In a collage

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, 1964.

Kapitsa (left) and Semenov (right). In the fall of 1921, Kapitsa appeared in the studio of Boris Kustodiev and asked him why he painted portraits of celebrities and why the artist should not paint those who would become famous. The young scientists paid the artist for the portrait with a bag of millet and a rooster.

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (June 26, 1894, Kronstadt - April 8, 1984, Moscow) - Soviet physicist. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939).

Prominent organizer of science. Founder of the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP), whose director remained until the last days of his life. One of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The first head of the Department of Low Temperature Physics, Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1978) for the discovery of the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium, introduced the term “superfluidity” into scientific use. He is also known for his work in the field of low-temperature physics, the study of ultra-strong magnetic fields and the confinement of high-temperature plasma. Developed a high-performance industrial gas liquefaction plant (turboexpander). From 1921 to 1934 he worked in Cambridge under the leadership of Rutherford. In 1934, during a guest visit, he was forcibly left in the USSR. In 1945, he was a member of the Special Committee on the Soviet Atomic Project, but his two-year plan for the implementation of the atomic project was not approved, and therefore he asked for resignation, the request was granted. From 1946 to 1955 he was dismissed from state Soviet institutions, but he was given the opportunity to work as a professor at Moscow State University until 1950. Lomonosov.

Twice winner of the Stalin Prize (1941, 1943). Awarded a large gold medal named after M.V. Lomonosov of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1959). Twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1945, 1974). Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was born in Kronstadt, in the family of military engineer Leonid Petrovich Kapitsa and his wife Olga Ieronimovna, daughter of topographer Ieronim Stebnitsky. In 1905 he entered the gymnasium. A year later, due to poor performance in Latin, he transferred to the Kronstadt Real School. After graduating from college, in 1914 he entered the electromechanical faculty of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. A. F. Ioffe quickly notices a capable student and attracts him to his seminar and work in the laboratory. The First World War found the young man in Scotland, which he visited during the summer holidays to study the language. He returned to Russia in November 1914 and a year later volunteered to go to the front. Kapitsa served as an ambulance driver and carried the wounded on the Polish front. In 1916, having been demobilized, he returned to St. Petersburg to continue his studies.

Even before defending his diploma, A.F. Ioffe invited Pyotr Kapitsa to work in the Physico-Technical Department of the newly created X-ray and Radiological Institute (transformed in November 1921 into the Physico-Technical Institute). The scientist publishes his first scientific works in ZhRFKhO and begins teaching.

Ioffe believed that a promising young physicist needed to continue his studies at a reputable foreign scientific school, but for a long time it was not possible to organize a trip abroad. Thanks to the assistance of Krylov and the intervention of Maxim Gorky, in 1921 Kapitsa, as part of a special commission, was sent to England.
Thanks to Ioffe’s recommendation, he manages to get a job at the Cavendish Laboratory under Ernest Rutherford, and on July 22, Kapitsa begins working in Cambridge. The young Soviet scientist quickly earned the respect of his colleagues and management thanks to his talent as an engineer and experimenter. His work in the field of superstrong magnetic fields brought him wide fame in scientific circles. At first, the relationship between Rutherford and Kapitsa was not easy, but gradually the Soviet physicist managed to win his trust and they soon became very close friends. Kapitsa gave Rutherford the famous nickname “crocodile”. Already in 1921, when the famous experimenter Robert Wood visited the Cavendish Laboratory, Rutherford instructed Peter Kapitsa to conduct a spectacular demonstration experiment in front of the famous guest.

The topic of his doctoral dissertation, which Kapitsa defended at Cambridge in 1922, was “The passage of alpha particles through matter and methods for producing magnetic fields.” Since January 1925, Kapitsa has been deputy director of the Cavendish Laboratory for Magnetic Research. In 1929, Kapitsa was elected a full member of the Royal Society of London. In November 1930, the Council of the Royal Society decided to allocate £15,000 for the construction of a special laboratory for Kapitsa in Cambridge. The grand opening of the Mond laboratory (named after the industrialist and philanthropist Mond) took place on February 3, 1933. Kapitsa is elected Messel Professor of the Royal Society. The leader of the Conservative Party of England, former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, noted in his opening speech:

We are happy that Professor Kapitsa, who so brilliantly combines both physicist and engineer, works as our laboratory director. We are convinced that under his able leadership the new laboratory will make its contribution to the knowledge of natural processes.-

Kapitsa maintains ties with the USSR and in every possible way promotes the international scientific exchange of experience. The International Series of Monographs in Physics, published by Oxford University Press, of which Kapitsa was one of the editors, publishes monographs by Georgy Gamov, Yakov Frenkel, and Nikolai Semyonov. At his invitation, Yuli Khariton and Kirill Sinelnikov come to England for an internship.

Back in 1922, Fyodor Shcherbatskoy spoke about the possibility of electing Pyotr Kapitsa to the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1929, a number of leading scientists signed a proposal for election to the USSR Academy of Sciences. On February 22, 1929, the Permanent Secretary of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Oldenburg, informed Kapitsa that “the Academy of Sciences, wishing to express its deep respect for your scientific achievements in the field of physical sciences, elected you at the General Meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences on February 13th. as its corresponding members."

Return to the USSR

The XVII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) appreciated the significant contribution of scientists and specialists to the success of the country’s industrialization and the implementation of the first five-year plan. However, at the same time, the rules for the travel of specialists abroad became more strict and their implementation was now monitored by a special commission.

Numerous cases of non-return of Soviet scientists did not go unnoticed. In 1936, V.N. Ipatiev and A.E. Chichibabin were deprived of Soviet citizenship and expelled from the Academy of Sciences for remaining abroad after a business trip. A similar story with young scientists G. A. Gamov and F. G. Dobzhansky had a wide resonance in scientific circles.

Kapitsa's activities in Cambridge did not go unnoticed. The authorities were especially concerned about the fact that Kapitsa provided consultations to European industrialists. According to historian Vladimir Yesakov, long before 1934, a plan related to Kapitsa was developed, and Stalin knew about it. From August to October 1934, a series of Politburo resolutions were adopted, signed by Kaganovich, ordering the detention of the scientist in the USSR. The final resolution read:

Based on the considerations that Kapitsa provides significant services to the British, informing them about the situation in science in the USSR, and also that he provides major services to English firms, including the military, by selling them his patents and working on their orders, to prohibit P . L. Kapitsa departure from the USSR.

Until 1934, Kapitsa and his family lived in England and regularly came to the USSR on vacation and to see relatives. The USSR government several times invited him to stay in his homeland, but the scientist invariably refused. At the end of August, Pyotr Leonidovich, as in previous years, was going to visit his mother and take part in the international congress dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dmitry Mendeleev.

After arriving in Leningrad on September 21, 1934, Kapitsa was summoned to Moscow, to the Council of People's Commissars, where he met with Pyatakov. The Deputy People's Commissar of Heavy Industry recommended that we carefully consider the offer to stay. Kapitsa refused, and he was sent to a higher authority to see Mezhlauk.
The Chairman of the State Planning Committee informed the scientist that traveling abroad was impossible and the visa was cancelled. Kapitsa was forced to move in with his mother, and his wife, Anna Alekseevna, went to Cambridge to visit her children alone. The English press, commenting on what happened, wrote that Professor Kapitsa was forcibly detained in the USSR.

Pyotr Leonidovich was deeply disappointed. At first, I even wanted to leave physics and switch to biophysics, becoming Pavlov’s assistant. He asked Paul Langevin, Albert Einstein and Ernest Rutherford for help and intervention. In a letter to Rutherford, he wrote that he had barely recovered from the shock of what had happened, and thanked the teacher for helping his family who remained in England. Rutherford wrote a letter to the USSR Plenipotentiary Representative in England for clarification as to why the famous physicist was being refused to return to Cambridge. In a response letter, he was informed that Kapitsa’s return to the USSR was dictated by the accelerated development of Soviet science and industry planned in the five-year plan.

1934-1941

The first months in the USSR were difficult - there was no work and no certainty about the future. I had to live in cramped conditions in a communal apartment with Pyotr Leonidovich’s mother. His friends Nikolai Semyonov, Alexei Bakh, and Fyodor Shcherbatskoy helped him a lot at that moment. Gradually, Pyotr Leonidovich came to his senses and agreed to continue working in his specialty. As a condition, he demanded that the Mondov laboratory, in which he worked, be transported to the USSR. If Rutherford refuses to transfer or sell the equipment, then duplicates of the unique instruments will need to be purchased. By decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, 30 thousand pounds sterling was allocated for the purchase of equipment.

On December 23, 1934, Vyacheslav Molotov signed a decree on organizing the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP) within the USSR Academy of Sciences. On January 3, 1935, the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia reported the appointment of Kapitsa as director of the new institute. At the beginning of 1935, Kapitsa moved from Leningrad to Moscow - to the Metropol Hotel, and received a personal car. In May 1935, construction began on the institute's laboratory building on Vorobyovy Gory. After rather difficult negotiations with Rutherford and Cockcroft (Kapitsa did not take part in them), it was possible to reach an agreement on the conditions for transferring the laboratory to the USSR. Between 1935 and 1937, equipment was gradually received from England. The matter was greatly delayed due to the sluggishness of the officials involved in the supply, and it became necessary to write letters to the top leadership of the USSR, right up to Stalin. As a result, we managed to get everything that Pyotr Leonidovich required. Two experienced engineers came to Moscow to help with installation and setup - mechanic Pearson and laboratory assistant Lauerman.

In his letters of the late 1930s, Kapitsa admitted that the opportunities for work in the USSR were inferior to those abroad - this was even despite the fact that he had a scientific institution at his disposal and had practically no problems with financing. It was depressing that problems that could be solved in England with one phone call were mired in bureaucracy. The scientist’s harsh statements and the exceptional conditions created for him by the authorities did not contribute to establishing mutual understanding with colleagues in the academic environment.

The situation is depressing. Interest in my work fell, and on the other hand, fellow scientists were so indignant that attempts were made, at least in words, to put my work under conditions that simply should have been considered normal, that they were indignant without hesitation: “If<бы>They did the same to us, then we won’t do the same as Kapitsa”... In addition to envy, suspicion and everything else, an atmosphere was created that was impossible and downright creepy... The scientists here are definitely unkind to my move here.-

In 1935, Kapitsa's candidacy was not even considered in the elections to full membership of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He repeatedly writes notes and letters about the possibilities of reforming Soviet science and the academic system to government officials, but does not receive a clear response. Several times Kapitsa took part in meetings of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, but, as he himself recalled, after two or three times he “withdrew.” In organizing the work of the Institute of Physical Problems, Kapitsa did not receive any serious help and relied mainly on his own strength.

In January 1936, Anna Alekseevna returned from England with her children, and the Kapitsa family moved to a cottage built on the territory of the institute. By March 1937, the construction of the new institute was completed, most of the instruments were transported and installed, and Kapitsa returned to active scientific work. At the same time, a “kapichnik” began working at the Institute of Physical Problems - the famous seminar of Pyotr Leonidovich, which soon gained all-Union fame.

In January 1938, Kapitsa published an article in the journal Nature about a fundamental discovery - the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium and continued research in a new direction of physics. At the same time, the team of the institute, headed by Pyotr Leonidovich, is actively working on the purely practical task of improving the design of a new installation for the production of liquid air and oxygen - a turboexpander. The academician’s fundamentally new approach to the functioning of cryogenic installations is causing heated discussions both in the USSR and abroad. However, Kapitsa’s activities receive approval, and the institute he heads is held up as an example of the effective organization of the scientific process. At the general meeting of the Department of Mathematical and Natural Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences on January 24, 1939, Kapitsa was accepted as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences by unanimous vote.)