Akiva Yaglom
Encyclopedia
Akiva Moiseevich Yaglom was a Soviet and Russian
physicist, mathematician, statistician, and meteorologist. He was known for his contribution to the statistical theory of turbulence
and theory of random processes
. Yaglom spent most of his career in Russia working in various institutions, including Institute of Theoretical Geophysics. From 1992 to till his death, Yaglom worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. He authored several popular books in mathematics and probability, some of them with his twin brother and mathematician Isaak Yaglom
.
. The family moved to Moscow when Yaglom brothers were five years old. During their school years they were keen on mathematics. In 1938 they shared the first prize at the Moscow mathematical competition for schoolchildren. Yaglom joined Moscow State University in 1938, where he studied physics and mathematics. He completed his fourth year of diploma in the Sverdlovsk
University and received the masters in science degree in 1942. After a short period of work in the Main Geophysical Observatory, Yaglom joined Steklov Institute of Mathematics
of the USSR Academy of Sciences and completed his postgraduate studies in 1946 under the mentorship of A. N. Kolmogorov. His dissertation was "On the Statistical Reversibility of Brownian Motion
".
After he received his Ph.D, Yaglom was offered a job at the Physical Institute
by the future Nobel laureates Igor Tamm
and Vitaly Ginzburg
, but he declined the offer because he knew that the job would have required him to deal with applied problems related to the development of nuclear weapon
s. He joined in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences and worked at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Turbulence and worked there for more than 45 years. In 1955, he defended his second doctoral thesis "The Theory of Correlation between Continuous Processes and Fields with Applications to the Problems of Statistical Exploration of Time Series and to Turbulence Theory".
Yaglom was also a full professor in the Faculty of Probability Theory at the Mathematics and Mechanics Department of Moscow University. In 1992, Yaglom went to the United States and joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. He died in Boston
, Massachusetts
on 13 December 2007.
and the statistical theory of fluid mechanics. His initial studies on the theory of random functions were published in the lengthy 1952-article "Introduction to the Theory of Random Functions" which appeared in the journal Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk. Later, this work was published in United States. His study on local structure of the acceleration field in a turbulent flow established the fact that the frequency spectrum of Lagrangian acceleration of a fluid particle in a turbulent flow is constant. This work was later independently repeated by Werner Heisenberg
.
in 1988 for his "fundamental contribution to the statistical theory of turbulence and the study of its underlying mathematical structure."
Yaglom received the European Geosciences Union
's 2008 Lewis Fry Richardson Medal, posthumously, for his "eminent and pioneering contributions to the development of statistical theories of turbulence, atmospheric dynamics and diffusion, including spectral techniques, stochastic and cascade models."
, is regarded as an encyclopedic work in the subject field.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
physicist, mathematician, statistician, and meteorologist. He was known for his contribution to the statistical theory of turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
and theory of random processes
Stochastic process
In probability theory, a stochastic process , or sometimes random process, is the counterpart to a deterministic process...
. Yaglom spent most of his career in Russia working in various institutions, including Institute of Theoretical Geophysics. From 1992 to till his death, Yaglom worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. He authored several popular books in mathematics and probability, some of them with his twin brother and mathematician Isaak Yaglom
Isaak Yaglom
Isaak Moiseevich Yaglom was a Soviet mathematician and author of popular mathematics books, some with his twin Akiva Yaglom.Yaglom received a Ph.D. from Moscow State University in 1945 as student of Veniamin Kagan. As the author of several books, translated into English, that have become academic...
.
Education and career
Akiva Yaglom was born on 6 March 1921 in Kharkov, Ukraine to the family of an engineer. He had a twin brother IsaakIsaak Yaglom
Isaak Moiseevich Yaglom was a Soviet mathematician and author of popular mathematics books, some with his twin Akiva Yaglom.Yaglom received a Ph.D. from Moscow State University in 1945 as student of Veniamin Kagan. As the author of several books, translated into English, that have become academic...
. The family moved to Moscow when Yaglom brothers were five years old. During their school years they were keen on mathematics. In 1938 they shared the first prize at the Moscow mathematical competition for schoolchildren. Yaglom joined Moscow State University in 1938, where he studied physics and mathematics. He completed his fourth year of diploma in the Sverdlovsk
Sverdlovsk Oblast
Sverdlovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in the Urals Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg formerly known as Sverdlovsk. Population: -Geography:...
University and received the masters in science degree in 1942. After a short period of work in the Main Geophysical Observatory, Yaglom joined Steklov Institute of Mathematics
Steklov Institute of Mathematics
Steklov Institute of Mathematics or Steklov Mathematical Institute is a research institute based in Moscow, specialized in mathematics, and a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was established April 24, 1934 by the decision of the General Assembly of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in...
of the USSR Academy of Sciences and completed his postgraduate studies in 1946 under the mentorship of A. N. Kolmogorov. His dissertation was "On the Statistical Reversibility of Brownian Motion
Brownian motion
Brownian motion or pedesis is the presumably random drifting of particles suspended in a fluid or the mathematical model used to describe such random movements, which is often called a particle theory.The mathematical model of Brownian motion has several real-world applications...
".
After he received his Ph.D, Yaglom was offered a job at the Physical Institute
Lebedev Physical Institute
The Lebedev Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences , situated in Moscow, is one of the leading Russian research institutes specializing in physics. It is also one of the oldest research institutions in Russia: its history dates back to a collection of physics equipment established by...
by the future Nobel laureates Igor Tamm
Igor Tamm
Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm was a Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate who received most prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, made in 1934.-Biography:Tamm was born in Vladivostok, Russian Empire , in a...
and Vitaly Ginzburg
Vitaly Ginzburg
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg ForMemRS was a Soviet theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, Nobel laureate, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and one of the fathers of Soviet hydrogen bomb...
, but he declined the offer because he knew that the job would have required him to deal with applied problems related to the development of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. He joined in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences and worked at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Turbulence and worked there for more than 45 years. In 1955, he defended his second doctoral thesis "The Theory of Correlation between Continuous Processes and Fields with Applications to the Problems of Statistical Exploration of Time Series and to Turbulence Theory".
Yaglom was also a full professor in the Faculty of Probability Theory at the Mathematics and Mechanics Department of Moscow University. In 1992, Yaglom went to the United States and joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. He died in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
on 13 December 2007.
Principal works
Yaglom had worked in many fields in applied mathematics and statistics, including theory of random processesStochastic process
In probability theory, a stochastic process , or sometimes random process, is the counterpart to a deterministic process...
and the statistical theory of fluid mechanics. His initial studies on the theory of random functions were published in the lengthy 1952-article "Introduction to the Theory of Random Functions" which appeared in the journal Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk. Later, this work was published in United States. His study on local structure of the acceleration field in a turbulent flow established the fact that the frequency spectrum of Lagrangian acceleration of a fluid particle in a turbulent flow is constant. This work was later independently repeated by Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
.
Awards and honors
In 1955, Yaglom received a Doctor of Science degree, the highest scientific degree in the Soviet Union, for his work on theories of stochastic processes and their application to turbulence theory. He received the American Physical Society's Otto Laporte AwardOtto Laporte Award
The Otto Laporte Award was an annual award by the American Physical Society to "recognize outstanding contributions to fluid dynamics" and to honour Otto Laporte . It was established as the Otto Laporte Memorial Lectureship by the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics in 1972, and became an APS award in...
in 1988 for his "fundamental contribution to the statistical theory of turbulence and the study of its underlying mathematical structure."
Yaglom received the European Geosciences Union
European Geosciences Union
The European Geosciences Union is an interdisciplinary non-profit learned society open to individuals who are professionally engaged in or associated with geosciences, planetary and space sciences, and related studies.The mission statement of the EGU is "Dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in...
's 2008 Lewis Fry Richardson Medal, posthumously, for his "eminent and pioneering contributions to the development of statistical theories of turbulence, atmospheric dynamics and diffusion, including spectral techniques, stochastic and cascade models."
Books authored
Yaglom authored six books and about 120 research papers. Most of his materials have been published in English and many other languages. The monograph titled Statistical Fluid Mechanics, co-authored with Andrei MoninAndrei Monin
Andrei Sergeevich Monin was a Russian physicist, applied mathematician, and oceanographer. Monin was known for his contribution to statistical theory of turbulence and atmospheric physics. He served as the Director of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences...
, is regarded as an encyclopedic work in the subject field.
- A. M. Yaglom, An Introduction to the Theory of Stationary Random Functions, Dover PublicationsDover PublicationsDover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
, 1962. - A. M. Yaglom and I. M. Yaglom, Challenging Mathematical Problems With Elementary Solutions, Volume 1, Dover Publications, 1987.
- A. M. Yaglom and I. M. Yaglom, Challenging Mathematical Problems With Elementary Solutions, Volume 2, Dover Publications, 1987.
- A. S. Monin and A. M. Yaglom, Statistical Fluid Mechanics: Mechanics of Turbulence, Dover Publications, 2007.