Artem Alikhanian
Encyclopedia
Artem Isahaki Alikhanian (June 24, 1908, Tiflis - February 25, 1978, Moscow
) was a Soviet Armenian physicist, one of the founders and first director of the Yerevan Physics Institute
, a correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1946), academic of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
. USSR State Prize
s (1941, 1948), Lenin Prize
(1970). He is known as the "father of Armenian physics". With Pyotr Kapitsa
, Lev Landau
, Igor Kurchatov
, Abraham Alikhanov
and others, he laid the foundations of nuclear physics in Soviet Union
.
working together with his brother Abraham Alikhanov
. For their investigations both brothers were awarded the USSR State Prize
. In 1942 they initiated a scientific mission on Mt. Aragats in order to search for the third (proton) component of cosmic rays, found so called narrow showers in cosmic rays, established the first evidence of the existence in cosmic rays of the particles with masses between that of muon
and proton
. In 1948 A. Alikhanov and A. Alikhanian again were awarded the USSR State Prize
for the investigation of cosmic rays. After they founded a cosmic ray station on Aragats at 3250 m, in 1943 two brothers participated in the foundation of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
, established the Yerevan Physics Institute. A. Alikhanian became its Director for the next 30 years. In 1956 A. Alikhanian, A. Alikhanov and Viktor Hambartsumian initiated the creation of the Yerevan Synchrotron
with 6 GeV
energy of electron
s. For the works on wide-gap track spark chambers in 1970 A.Alikhanian together with the colleagues was awarded the Lenin Prize
. Later he initiated the works on x-ray
transition radiation detectors.
and others, he:
He led the construction of 6 GeV Armenian electron synchrotron (Yerevan). From 1961 to 1975 he organized the International Schools of High Energy Physics at Nor-Amberd.
, composer Dmitry Shostakovich (he was a colleague of the composer's wife, Nina Varzar, who died in Armenia, in 1954.), writer Marietta Shaginyan
, sculptor Arto Chakhmakhchian, painters Harutyun Kalents
and Minas Avetisyan
. He resigned from his position at YerPhI in 1973 and left Yerevan
, after some attacks possiblly organized by KGB
.
and a street in Yerevan
are named after him. His statue stands in Alikhanyan Square, Yerevan
. Also there is a Memorial Cabinet-museum of Alikhanyan opened in the central building of the Yerevan Physics Institute
.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Soviet Armenian physicist, one of the founders and first director of the Yerevan Physics Institute
Yerevan Physics Institute
Yerevan Physics Institute is a research and development institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1942 as a branch of Yerevan State University by brothers, Abraham Alikhanov and Artem Alikhanian. It is often referred to by the acronym YerPhI .-External links:*...
, a correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1946), academic of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
Armenian Academy of Sciences
The Armenian Academy of Sciences is the primary body that conducts research in and coordinates activities in the fields of science and social sciences in the Republic of Armenia. It was founded on November 29, 1943...
. USSR State Prize
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
s (1941, 1948), Lenin Prize
Lenin Prize
The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...
(1970). He is known as the "father of Armenian physics". With Pyotr Kapitsa
Pyotr Kapitsa
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was a prominent Soviet/Russian physicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Kapitsa was born in the city of Kronstadt and graduated from the Petrograd Polytechnical Institute in 1918. He worked for over ten years with Ernest Rutherford in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge...
, Lev Landau
Lev Landau
Lev Davidovich Landau was a prominent Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics...
, Igor Kurchatov
Igor Kurchatov
Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov , was a Soviet nuclear physicist who is widely known as the director of the Soviet atomic bomb project. Along with Georgy Flyorov and Andrei Sakharov, Kurchatov is widely remembered and dubbed as the "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" for his directorial role in the...
, Abraham Alikhanov
Abraham Alikhanov
Abraham Isahakovich Alikhanov was a Soviet Armenia physicist, academic, and member of the USSR Academy of Sciences...
and others, he laid the foundations of nuclear physics in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Biography
In 1930, before he has graduated from Leningrad State University, he became a staff-member at Leningrad Physico-Technical InstituteIoffe Physico-Technical Institute
Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of Russia's largest research centers specialized in physics and technology. The institute was established in 1918 in Petrograd and run for several decades by Abram Fedorovich Ioffe...
working together with his brother Abraham Alikhanov
Abraham Alikhanov
Abraham Isahakovich Alikhanov was a Soviet Armenia physicist, academic, and member of the USSR Academy of Sciences...
. For their investigations both brothers were awarded the USSR State Prize
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
. In 1942 they initiated a scientific mission on Mt. Aragats in order to search for the third (proton) component of cosmic rays, found so called narrow showers in cosmic rays, established the first evidence of the existence in cosmic rays of the particles with masses between that of muon
Muon
The muon |mu]] used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with a unitary negative electric charge and a spin of ½. Together with the electron, the tau, and the three neutrinos, it is classified as a lepton...
and proton
Proton
The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number....
. In 1948 A. Alikhanov and A. Alikhanian again were awarded the USSR State Prize
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
for the investigation of cosmic rays. After they founded a cosmic ray station on Aragats at 3250 m, in 1943 two brothers participated in the foundation of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
Armenian Academy of Sciences
The Armenian Academy of Sciences is the primary body that conducts research in and coordinates activities in the fields of science and social sciences in the Republic of Armenia. It was founded on November 29, 1943...
, established the Yerevan Physics Institute. A. Alikhanian became its Director for the next 30 years. In 1956 A. Alikhanian, A. Alikhanov and Viktor Hambartsumian initiated the creation of the Yerevan Synchrotron
Synchrotron
A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronised with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
with 6 GeV
GEV
GEV or GeV may stand for:*GeV or gigaelectronvolt, a unit of energy equal to billion electron volts*GEV or Grid Enabled Vehicle that is fully or partially powered by the electric grid, see plug-in electric vehicle...
energy of electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
s. For the works on wide-gap track spark chambers in 1970 A.Alikhanian together with the colleagues was awarded the Lenin Prize
Lenin Prize
The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...
. Later he initiated the works on x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
transition radiation detectors.
Works
Alikhanyan's works are dedicated to nuclear physics, cosmic rays and elementary particle physics, accelerator physics and technology. Among with his co-workers- Alikhanov, Lev ArtsimovichLev Artsimovich
Lev Andreevich Artsimovich was a Soviet physicist, academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , member of the Presidium of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , and Hero of Socialist Labor .- Academic research :Artsimovich worked on the...
and others, he:
- discovered the production of electron-positron pairs by internal energy conversion (1934),
- experimentally confirmed energy conversation in positron annihilation (1936),
- conducted precision measurements on the data spectra of a large number of radioactive elements and discovered the dependence of spectral shape on the atomic number,
- proposed the experimental method to prove the existence of neutrinos through nuclear recoil in electron capture in 7Be,
- discovered streams of fast protons in the cosmic rays, the intense productions of protons by fast neutrons, the so-called narrow shower, and the first hints of particles with masses ranging between those of the muon and the proton,
- contributed to the development of methods for the detection of high-energy particles, in particular the Alikhanian-Alikhanov mass spectrometer, wide-gap spark chambers, and X-ray transition radiation detectors.
He led the construction of 6 GeV Armenian electron synchrotron (Yerevan). From 1961 to 1975 he organized the International Schools of High Energy Physics at Nor-Amberd.
Personality
Alikhanian was also known as a kind personality, his "great erudition captivated everyone". He was in good relations with academicians Viktor Ambartsumian and Lev LandauLev Landau
Lev Davidovich Landau was a prominent Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics...
, composer Dmitry Shostakovich (he was a colleague of the composer's wife, Nina Varzar, who died in Armenia, in 1954.), writer Marietta Shaginyan
Marietta Shaginyan
Marietta Sergeevna Shaginian was a Soviet writer and public activist. She was one of the outstanding communist female-authors with broad philosophical and social views....
, sculptor Arto Chakhmakhchian, painters Harutyun Kalents
Harutyun Kalents
Harutyun Kalents , was a prolific Armenian painter, born on March 27, 1910 in the town of Kyurin, present day Turkey.-Biography:Kalents was born in Kyurin, Ottoman Empire on March 27 of 1910. His father Tiratur owned a wool-dying factory which left a profound impression on young Kalents with its...
and Minas Avetisyan
Minas Avetisyan
- Biography :Minas Avetisyan was born in the village of Jajur, Armenia. His mother, Sofo, was a daughter of the priest from Kars. His father, Karapet, was a smith from Mush. His wife was Gayane Mamajanyan....
. He resigned from his position at YerPhI in 1973 and left Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, after some attacks possiblly organized by KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
.
Remembrance
Yerevan Physics InstituteYerevan Physics Institute
Yerevan Physics Institute is a research and development institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1942 as a branch of Yerevan State University by brothers, Abraham Alikhanov and Artem Alikhanian. It is often referred to by the acronym YerPhI .-External links:*...
and a street in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
are named after him. His statue stands in Alikhanyan Square, Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. Also there is a Memorial Cabinet-museum of Alikhanyan opened in the central building of the Yerevan Physics Institute
Yerevan Physics Institute
Yerevan Physics Institute is a research and development institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1942 as a branch of Yerevan State University by brothers, Abraham Alikhanov and Artem Alikhanian. It is often referred to by the acronym YerPhI .-External links:*...
.