physics

Lev Gor'kov

Lev Gor'kov is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lev Gor'kov rather than just read about it. In short: Lev Petrovich Gor'kov (Russian: Лев Петро́вич Горько́в; 14 June 1929 – 28 December 2016) was a Russian-American research physicist internationally known for his pioneering work in the field of superconductivity. He was particularly famous for developing microscopic foundations of the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity (Vitaly Ginzburg was awarded the 2003 Nobel prize in physics for developing, together with…

Key takeaways

Lev Gor'kov belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lev Gor'kov to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lev Gor'kov from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lev Petrovich Gor'kov (Russian: Лев Петро́вич Горько́в; 14 June 1929 – 28 December 2016) was a Russian-American research physicist internationally known for his pioneering work in the field of superconductivity. He was particularly famous for developing microscopic foundations of the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity (Vitaly Ginzburg was awarded the 2003 Nobel prize in physics for developing, together with Lev Landau, that phenomenological theory). Gor'kov was a professor of physics at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and a program director in Condensed Matter at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. He was one of the Magnet Lab's founding scientists.

Biography Gor'kov was born in Moscow and received his academic training when he was at Moscow State University, after which he entered Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, and eventually joined the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics. In 1966, he was awarded the Lenin Prize, Russia's highest award for scientific achievement, in recognition of his groundbreaking work on superconductivity. In 1981, he received the Bardeen Prize (with Alexei Abrikosov and Vitaly Ginzburg). In 1988, he received the Landau Prize, the highest award in Russia for theoretical physics. In 1992, less than a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he left Moscow for the United States at age 63. In 2004, he was a co-recipient of the prestigious Eugene Feenberg Award, given to recognize researchers who have advanced the field of many-body physics. In 2005, he became an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the very highest honors that can be bestowed on any U.S. scientist or engineer. He belonged to the last generation of scientists who were direct disciples of Soviet theorist Lev Landau. Gor’kov's contributions to physics reflect the unique style of the Landau Institute. In addition to his duties at the Magnet Lab, Gor'kov maintained his RAS membership and continued to perform research for the Landau Institute. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious Ugo Fano Gold Medal of the Rome International Center for Materials Science Superstripes RICMASS for his key prediction of two electronics components in cuprate high temperature superconductors. Gor'kov died on 28 December 2016 at the age of 87. On June 24–26, 2019, The Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics hosted an International Conference in his honor.

References

External links National High Magnetic Field Laboratory faculty profile Archived 2009-06-19 at the Wayback Machine Lev P. Gor'kov. Site of RAS Gor'kov, Lev P. NAS Section: Physics Research for Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation Ugo Fano Gold Medal 2015, RICMASS, Rome, Italy Publications of Lev Gor'kov 1955-2016 Modern Trends in Condensed Matter Physics, Lev Gor'kov Memorial Conference, http://gorkovconf.itp.ac.ru/gorkov2019/

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lev Gor'kov

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lev Gor'kov claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lev Gor'kov before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lev Gor'kov ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lev Gor'kov

In research: Lev Gor'kov appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lev Gor'kov in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lev Gor'kov is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, 2016 deaths, Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lev Gor'kov outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lev Gor'kov in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lev Gor'kov means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lev Gor'kov out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lev Gor'kov in simple terms?

Why does Lev Gor'kov matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lev Gor'kov?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lev Gor'kov.