Julia Stolbova

T

he Nobel Prize is valued as an insignia of the highest acknowledgement in different branches of science. In the opinion of Vitali Ginzburg, a winner of the Nobel Prize, "among other prestigious nominations the Nobel Prize in physics is on the top of the pedestal". Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Curie, Rutherford, the first Nobel Prize winners in physics, were followed by Russian physicists Kapitsa, Landay, Basov and Prokhorov. The highest reward bestowed upon Mr. Abrikosov reaffirms a specific place physics takes among other branches of Russian science: most of the Nobel Prizes ever won by Russian representatives are in this discipline.
In October 2003 the Swedish Academy of Science announced new winners of the Nobel Prize in physics. The prize was conferred on Alexei Abrikosov, Vitali Ginzburg and Anthony Legitte for fundamental research works in the field of quantum physics and scientific achievements in the field of superconductivity and superfluidity.
Every year about 400 persons are nominated for Nobel Prizes. Mr. Abrikosov was nominated for this award several times. His friends had even congratulated him in advance. According to Mr. Abrikosov, who is a citizen both of Russia and USA, he was ready to say good-by to his hope to be a Nobel Prize laureate. "Anyway,- he thought,- my life has been success without the prize. I have got an interesting job, I am quite happy and love my family". By that time Alexei Abrikosov had been a full member of the US National Academy of Science, a foreign member of the London Royal Society, a member of the US Academy of Art and Science, a laureate of a number of prestigious prizes: actually he had no grounds to complain about lack of acknowledgement.
A scientific career of the new Nobel Prize laureate started more than half a century ago. In 1951 Mr. Abrikosov gets his first scientific degree to become a candidate of science at the Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Physical Problems. Then he heads the Scientific Research Institute of High Pressure Physics and holds the chair at the department of theoretical physics of the Moscow State Institute of Steel & Alloys. During the perestroika he emigrates to USA. Since 1991 Abrikosov has worked in the Argonne National Laboratory under the Chicago University, Illinois.
According to V. Ginzburg the case of physicist Abrikosov "is one the most disappointing and irreparable examples of brain drain". As a matter of fact, the scientific work, which brought Abrikosov a Nobel Prize, was performed in cooperation with other Russian scientists. In one of his interviews Mr. Abrikosov told about his discovery: "I am a theoretical physicist. Yet, I have always been close to experimental works. During a set of experiments we observed unusual phenomena of superconductivity. I tried to explain it based on the theory developed by Ginsburg and Landay in 1950. Finally I discovered so-called type 2 superconductors, a new category of superconductors that exist within a magnetic field. My research resulted in an invention now known as "Abrikosov’s vortex grid". It is the scientific work, which brought me a Noble Prize".
Professor Abrikosov’s colleagues from the Moscow State Institute of Steel & Alloys where he headed a department of theoretical physics from 1976 till 1991 think of him with gratitude: "Alexei Abrikosov established a strong school of disciples and trained a galaxy of outstanding scientists. He created a favorable creative climate for scientific research performed at the department, an environment of solicitous attitude towards talented students for them to take an active part in scientific works". It was here, at this department, where Alexei Abrikosov established a new scientific lead focused on studying physics of metals under low temperatures to train students for Physical Materiology, a new scientific discipline. As a head of this department Mr. Abrikosov compiled a course of lectures on Solid Body Electronic Theory and wrote "The Basics of Metal Theory" book, which was translated into English. He helped to establish a good relationship between the Moscow State Institute of Steel & Alloys and scientific research centers in western countries. Thus, owing to Mr. Abrikosov’s efforts now scientific workers of his department have an opportunity to get trained at different universities in Italy, Netherlands and USA.
Three new Noble laureates will share a prize of $ 1.3 million USD. When asked how he was planning to spend his share of money, Mr. Abrikosov answered: "12 years ago, when I emigrated to USA with no money in my pocket, I was 62 years old. In this age many American people would retire. I had to start from scratch. Naturally, this prize is a real boon for me. I will not be a beggar when I retire. I am not going to retire actually. I am in a good shape to keep on my research works".
When announced a winner of the Noble Prize, the scientist received a lot of telegrams and letters with congratulations including those from the Moscow State Institute of Steel & Alloys. In response to the congratulations Mr. Abrikosov forwarded Yury Karabasov, the rector of the institute, a letter:
"Dear Mr. Karabasov,
I appreciate your congratulations. I will never forget my work at the Moscow State Institute of Steel & Alloys. It was one of the happiest periods in my life. I am still on good relationship with my former colleagues. I hope the institute will finally cope with all the difficulties and remain a good example for all the academic institutes of Russia. I wish you success.
Sincerely yours,
Alexei Abrikosov"