Matvei Petrovich Bronstein was a Soviet

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....

 theoretical physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

, a pioneer of quantum gravity

Quantum gravity

Quantum gravity is the field of theoretical physics which attempts to develop scientific models that unify quantum mechanics with general relativity...

, author of works in astrophysics

Astrophysics

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...

, semiconductor

Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...

s, quantum electrodynamics

Quantum electrodynamics

Quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...

 and cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

, as well as of a number of books in popular science

Popular science

Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...

 for children.

He introduced the cGh

CGh physics

cGh physics refers to the mainstream attempts in physics to unify relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravitation, in particular following the ideas of Matvei Petrovich Bronstein and George Gamow...

 scheme for classifying physical theories. "After the relativistic quantum theory is created, the task will be to develop the next part of our scheme, that is to unify quantum theory (with its constant h), special relativity (with constant c), and the theory of gravitation (with its G) into a single theory."

He was married to Lydia Chukovskaya

Lydia Chukovskaya

Lydia Korneievna Chukovskaya was a Soviet writer and poet. Her deeply personal writings reflect the human cost of Soviet totalitarianism, and she devoted much of her career to defending dissidents such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov...

, a writer, prominent human rights activist, and a friend of Andrei Sakharov

Andrei Sakharov

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...

.

During the Great Purge

Great Purge

The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...

, in August 1937 Bronstein was arrested. He was convicted by a list trial ("по списку") and executed the same day. His wife was told that he was sentenced to 10 years of labor camp

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

s without the right of correspondence

Without the right of correspondence

"Without the right of correspondence", WRC was a clause in a sentence of many political convicts in the Soviet Union.In a large number of cases during the Great Purge, the oral sentence was "10 years of corrective labor camps without the right of correspondence", which was announced to relatives,...

.

Bronstein's books for children "Solar matter" (Солнечное вещество), "X Rays" (Лучи X), "Inventors of Radio" (Изобретатели радио) were republished after he had been rehabilitated in 1957.