physics

Petr Lazarev

Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev rather than just read about it. In short: Petr Petrovich Lazarev (Russian: Пётр Петрович Лазарев; 14 April 1878 – 24 April 1942) was a biophysicist and a founder of the Soviet Institute of Physics and Biophysics (now Lebedev Physical Institute). He also founded the journal Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk (later Physics-Uspekhi).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Petr Petrovich Lazarev (Russian: Пётр Петрович Лазарев; 14 April 1878 – 24 April 1942) was a biophysicist and a founder of the Soviet Institute of Physics and Biophysics (now Lebedev Physical Institute). He also founded the journal Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk (later Physics-Uspekhi).

Early life

Lazarev was born in Moscow where his father worked as a civil engineer. After studies at a Moscow Gymnasium, he graduated from Moscow University in 1901 with a medical degree. After passing the examination to become a doctor of medicine in 1902 he worked at an ear clinic. He then became interested in mathematics and physics and passed the university examination in 1903 after studying the subjects entirely on his own.

Career Lazarev's early research was on hearing and he noted that auditory sensations could be amplified by coordinated visual stimulation. He later studied other phenomena such as synesthesia and the effect of singing on vision. He began to collaborate with P.N. Lebedev from 1903 and in 1912 he obtained a doctorate with a thesis Vytsvetanie krasok i pigmentov v vidimom svete ["The Fading of Colors and Pigments in Visible Light"]. In 1911, he joined Lebedev in protest against the policies of L.A. Kasso and quit Moscow University to join Shanyavsky University. He began to study the ion theory of nerve excitation and confirmed Loeb's formula. During World War I, he was involved in producing medical equipment, including thermometers and mobile X-ray systems. After the 1917 revolution, he became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1918, he was involved in the study of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly and worked on geomagnetism with E.G. Leyst.

Arrest and exile In 1929, a group of communists failed to be elected to the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Lazarev objected to re-balloting them. He also publicly criticized Friedrich Engels writings about − 1 {\displaystyle {\sqrt {-1}}} (Imaginary unit) who said that is "not only a contradiction, but even an absurd contradiction, a real absurdity." As a result of this Lazarev was arrested on 5 March 1931 and removed from all of his academic positions. His institute was transferred to the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy, the key personnel was sacked and most of the equipment destroyed. Lazarev's wife committed suicide on 13 June 1931. In September 1931 Lazarev was exiled to Sverdlovsk. He returned to Moscow in 1932. Aleksandr Mints was his student.

References

Illustrations

Petr Lazarev: Petr Lazarev — Petr Lazarev

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Petr Lazarev

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev

In research: Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev 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: Petr Lazarev is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1878 births, 1942 deaths, Biophysicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Petr Lazarev in simple terms?

Why does Petr Lazarev 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 Petr Lazarev?

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 Petr Lazarev.