physics

Nikolai Kopnin

Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin rather than just read about it. In short: Nikolai Borisovich Kopnin (May 17, 1946 – October 20, 2013) was a Russian physicist specializing in superconductivity. Education and career Born in Moscow, Kopnin earned a master's degree in physics in 1970 from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a PhD in physics and mathematics in 1973 from the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, where his supervisor was Lev P.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Nikolai Borisovich Kopnin (May 17, 1946 – October 20, 2013) was a Russian physicist specializing in superconductivity.

Education and career Born in Moscow, Kopnin earned a master's degree in physics in 1970 from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a PhD in physics and mathematics in 1973 from the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, where his supervisor was Lev P. Gor’kov; his dissertation was on vortices in Type II superconductors. He remained at the Landau Institute as a researcher and in 1984 was awarded a higher doctorate and became a Leading Research Fellow. From 1988 to 1994 he was a professor of physics at Moscow State Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation. In 2000 he joined the faculty of the Low Temperature Laboratory at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, now Aalto University. He was also a visiting professor at, among others, CNRS in Grenoble and the University of Paris-Sud in France, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, and the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory in the USA.

Research Kopnin's primary research area was superconductivity, in particular non-equilibrium and non-stationary phenomena. One of the forces acting on quantum vortices in superfluids and superconductors is known as the "Kopnin force" after him. In 1991, by extending his theory concerning this force to chiral superfluids, he predicted the existence of fermionic bound states, quasiparticles now known as Majorana fermions and that it may be possible to observe in topological superfluids and superconductors. He contributed to the studies of anisotropic and layered superconductors and developed the microscopic theories for dissipative and non-stationary flow in Fermi superfluids. His 2001 monograph Theory of Nonequilibrium Superconductivity has been widely cited. He published more than 150 articles in international journals.

Honors In 2011, with his Landau colleague S.V. Iordanskii, Kopnin was awarded the Simon Memorial Prize of the Institute of Physics for his work on the forces acting on quantum vortices in superfluids and superconductors.

Family Nikolai Kopnin is survived by his widow Sidelnikova Anna and four children: Helen Kopnina, Anna Grifa, Petr Kopnin, Olga Kopnina.

References

External links Publications: Nikolai B. Kopnin, Principal researcher, Doctor of science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nikolai Kopnin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin

In research: Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin 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: Nikolai Kopnin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1946 births, 2013 deaths, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin in 20 minutes

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Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Nikolai Kopnin in simple terms?

Nikolai Borisovich Kopnin (May 17, 1946 – October 20, 2013) was a Russian physicist specializing in superconductivity. Education and career Born in Moscow, Kopnin earned a master's degree in physics in 1970 from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a PhD in physics and mathematics in 1973…

Why does Nikolai Kopnin 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 Nikolai Kopnin?

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 Nikolai Kopnin.