From low temperatures, close to absolute zero, to high indicators that are needed for the synthesis of atomic nuclei - this is the range of many years of activity of academician Kapitsa. He twice became the hero of Socialist labor, and also received the Stalin and Nobel Prizes.
Childhood
Peter 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 given to study at the gymnasium, but due to poor performance (Latin is poorly given), the boy leaves her after a year. The future academician continues his studies at the Kronstad school. He finishes it with honors in 1912.
Studying at the University
Initially, Peter Kapitsa (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 a talented young man and drew the young man to research in his own laboratory.
Army and wedding
In 1914, Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa went to Scotland for a summer vacation. There he planned to practice English. But the First World War began, and the young man could not return home in August. He got to Petrograd only in November.
In early 1915, Peter volunteered for the Western Front. He was appointed to the post of driver of an ambulance. He also transported the wounded in his truck.
In 1916 he was demobilized, and Peter returned to college. Joffe immediately loaded the young man with experimental work in a physical laboratory and attracted him to participate in his own physical seminar (the first in Russia). In the 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 physics research institute in Russia. Pyotr Kapitsa, whose quotes can be read below, graduated from the Polytechnic this year and immediately got a teacher there.
The difficult post-revolutionary situation did not bode well for science. Joffe helped keep 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. Helped Maxim Gorky, then considered the most influential writer. Peter was allowed to leave for England. Shortly before Kapitsa’s departure, a flu epidemic broke out in St. Petersburg. For a month, a young scientist lost his wife, newborn daughter, son and father.
Jobs in England
In May 1921, Peter arrived in England as part of the Russian Commission from the Academy of Sciences. The main goal of scientists was to restore scientific ties broken by war and revolution. Two months later, physicist Peter Kapitsa got a job at the Cavendish Laboratory, headed by Rutherford. He accepted the young man for a short-term internship. Over time, the engineering grip and research skills of the Russian scientist made a strong impression on Rutherford.
In 1922, Kapitsa defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Cambridge. His scientific authority grew exponentially. In 1923 he was awarded a Maxwell scholarship. 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 wife of a scientist. After the wedding, Peter bought a piece of land on Huntington Road and built a house. Soon, his sons, Andrey and Sergey, will be born here.
Magnetic World Champion
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, whose biography is known to all physicists, actively continues to study the processes of nuclear conversion and radioactive decay. He comes up with a new installation for generating stronger magnetic fields and obtains record results that are 6-7 thousand times higher than the previous ones. Then Landau dubbed him the "magnetic world champion."
Return to the USSR
Studying the properties of metals in magnetic fields, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa realized the need to change the conditions of experiments. Lower (gel) temperatures were required. It was in the field of low temperature physics that the scientist achieved the greatest success. But Peter Leonidovich conducted research on this topic already at home.
Officials of the Soviet government regularly offered him permanent residence in the USSR. The scientist was interested in such proposals, but he always set a number of conditions, the most important of which was trips to the West at will. The government did not go forward.
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 were canceled. Anna was later allowed to return for the children and pick them up in Moscow. Rutherford and friends of Peter Alekseevich asked the Soviet government to allow Kapitsa to return to England to continue work. Everything was 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 agreeing to this position, he demanded to purchase 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 Petr Leonidovich (photos are attached to the article) returned to his homeland with the beginning of Stalin's purges. Even in this difficult time, he vehemently defended his views. Knowing that everything in the country is decided by the top leadership, he regularly wrote letters, thereby trying to conduct a frank and direct conversation. From 1934 to 1983, the scientist sent more than 300 letters to the Kremlin. Thanks to the intervention of Peter Leonidovich, many scientists were rescued from prisons and camps.
Further work and discovery
Whatever happens around, the physicist always found time for scientific work. On the installation delivered from England, he continued research in the field of strong magnetic fields. The experiments were attended by employees from Cambridge. These experiments lasted several years and were extremely important.
The scientist managed to improve the turbine of the device, and it began to more efficiently liquefy the air. The installation did not require pre-cooling of helium. It was automatically cooled during expansion in a special datarer. Similar gel installations are now used in almost all countries.
In 1937, after much research in this direction, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (the Nobel Prize will be awarded to the scientist 30 years later) made a fundamental discovery. He discovered the phenomenon of superfluidity of helium. The main conclusion of the study: at a temperature below 2.19 ° K, there is no viscosity. In subsequent years, Peter Leonidovich discovered other anomalous phenomena occurring in helium. For example, the spread of heat in it. Thanks to these studies, a new direction has appeared in science - the physics of quantum liquids.
Failure to create an atomic bomb
In 1945, the Soviet Union launched a nuclear weapons development program. Pyotr Kapitsa, whose books were popular in scientific circles, refused to take part in it. For this, he was suspended from scientific activity and put under house arrest for eight years. Also, the scientist was deprived of the opportunity to communicate with his colleagues. But Pyotr Leonidovich was not discouraged and to continue the research he decided to organize a laboratory in his country house.
It was there, in artisanal conditions, that high-power electronics was born, which became the first step 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 at that time formed the basis for the scheme of a fusion reactor of constant action.
Some of his experiments gave a new impetus to the work of science fiction authors. Each writer tried to express his thoughts on this subject. Pyotr Kapitsa also studied ball lightning and the hydrodynamics of thin layers of liquid during that period. But the burning properties of plasma and microwave generators aroused his interest.
Travel Abroad and the Nobel Prize
In 1965, Petr Leonidovich Kapitsa received government permission to travel to Denmark. There he was awarded the Niels Bohr Gold Medal. A physicist examined the local laboratories and gave a lecture on high energies. In 1969, a scientist with his wife first visited the United States.
In mid-October 1978, the scientist received a telegram from the Swedish Academy of Sciences. The heading was an inscription: “Petr Leonidovich Kapitsa. Nobel Prize". The physicist received it for fundamental research in the field of low temperatures. This joyful news “overtook” the scientist during his vacation at Barvikha near Moscow.
The reporters interviewed asked: “Which of your personal scientific achievements is the most significant?” Peter Leonidovich said that the most important thing for a scientist is his current work. “Personally, I am now engaged in fusion,” he added.
Kapitsa's lecture in Stockholm at the presentation of the prize was unusual. Contrary to the charter, he gave a lecture not on the subject of low temperature physics, but about plasma and the controlled thermonuclear reaction. Peter Leonidovich explained the reason for this liberty. The scientist said: “It was difficult for me to choose a topic for the 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 completely switched to studying the processes necessary for the implementation of the thermonuclear reaction. I believe that at present this sphere is more interesting and relevant, as it will help in solving the impending energy crisis. ”
The scientist died in 1984, having a little lived before the 90th anniversary. In conclusion, we cite his most famous statements.
Quotes
“A person’s freedom can be limited in two ways: by violence or by educating him of conditioned reflexes.”
"Man is young as long as he does stupid things."
“One cannot consider mistakes a pseudoscience. But their non-recognition is really pseudoscience. ”
"Talented is he who knows what he wants."
"Geniuses do not give birth to an era, but are born to an era."
"To become happy, a person needs to imagine himself free."
“The one who has the patience wins. Only endurance 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, fun and fun. The same applies to scientists. ”
“Deception is a necessary element of the democratic system, since a progressive beginning rests on a small number of people. The desires of the majority will simply stop progress. ”
"Life is like a card game in which you participate without knowing the rules."