# List of Russian physicists

This list of Russian physicists includes the famous physicists from the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

## Alphabetical list

* A
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* X
* Y
* Z
* See also

### A

* Alexei Abrikosov, discovered how magnetic flux can penetrate a superconductor (the Abrikosov vortex), Nobel Prize winner
* Franz Aepinus, related electricity and magnetism, proved the electric nature of pyroelectricity, explained electric polarization and electrostatic induction, invented achromatic microscope
* Zhores Alferov, inventor of modern heterotransistor, Nobel Prize winner
* Sergey Alekseenko, director of the Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, Global Energy Prize recipient
* Artem Alikhanian, a prominent researcher of cosmic rays, inventor of wide-gap track spark chamber
* Abram Alikhanov, nuclear physicist, a prominent researcher of cosmic rays, built the first nuclear reactors in the USSR, founder of Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
* Semen Altshuler, researched EPR and NMR, predicted acoustic paramagnetic resonance
* Lev Artsimovich, builder of the first tokamak, researcher of high temperature plasma
* Gurgen Askaryan, predicted self focusing of light, discovered Askaryan effect in the particle physicsAlferov

### B

* Nikolay Basov, physicist, co-inventor of laser and maser, Nobel Prize winner
* Nikolay Bogolyubov, mathematician and theoretical physicist, co-developed the BBGKY hierarchy, formulated a microscopic theory of superconductivity, suggested a triplet quark model, introduced a new quantum degree of freedom (color charge)
* Dmitry Blokhintsev, theoretical physicist who served as the first director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
* Matvei Petrovich Bronstein, theoretical physicist, a pioneer of quantum gravity, author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology.
* Gersh Budker, inventor of electron cooling, co-inventor of collider

### C

* Sergey Chaplygin, a founder of aero- and hydrodynamics, formulated the Chaplygin's equations and Chaplygin gas conceptBasov
* Pavel Cherenkov, discoverer of Cherenkov radiation, Nobel Prize winner

### D

* Yuri Denisyuk, inventor of 3D holography

### F

* Ludvig Faddeev, discoverer of Faddeev–Popov ghosts and Faddeev equations in quantum physics
* Georgy Flyorov, nuclear physicist, one of the initiators of the Soviet atomic bomb project, co-discoverer of seaborgium and bohrium, founder of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
* Vladimir Fock, developed the Fock space, Fock state and the Hartree–Fock method in quantum mechanics
* Ilya Frank, explained the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation, Nobel Prize winner
* Vsevolod Frederiks (Fréedericksz), discovered the Fréedericksz transition, the Fréedericksz critical field in liquid crystals
* Yakov Frenkel, coined the term electron hole, discovered the Frenkel defect of a crystal lattice, described the Poole–Frenkel effect in solid-state physics

### G

* Andre Geim, inventor of graphene, developer of gecko tape, Nobel Prize winner and at the same time Ig Nobel Prize winner for diamagnetic levitation of a living frog
* Vitaly Ginzburg, co-author of the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity, a developer of hydrogen bomb, Nobel Prize winner
* Vladimir Gribov, introduced pomeron, DGLAP equations and Gribov ambiguity
* Aleksandr Gurevich, author of the runaway breakdown theory of lightning

### I

* Abram Ioffe, founder of the Soviet physics school, tutor of many prominent scientists
* Dmitri Ivanenko, pioneered the modelling of nuclear shell and nuclear forces, predicted synchrotron radiation, suggested the quark stars existenceCherenkov

### J

* Boris Jacobi, formulated the Maximum power theorem in electrical engineering, invented electroplating, electrotyping, galvanoplastic sculpture and electric boat

### K

* Pyotr Kapitsa, originated the techniques for creating ultrastrong magnetic fields, co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus discovered superfluidity, Nobel Prize winner
* Yuly Khariton, chief designer of the Soviet atomic bomb, co-developer of the Tsar Bomb
* Orest Khvolson, first to study the Chwolson ring effect of gravitational lensing
* Nicolai Kopnin, Simon Memorial Prize winner for his work on the forces acting on quantum vortices in superfluids and superconductors
* Sergey Krasnikov, developer of the Krasnikov tube, a speculative mechanism for space travelLandau
* Igor Kurchatov, builder of the first nuclear power plant, developer of the first nuclear reactors for surface ships

### L

* Lev Landau, theoretical physicist, developed the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity, explained the Landau damping in plasma physics, pointed out the Landau pole in quantum electrodynamics, co-author of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics, Nobel Prize winner
* Grigory Landsberg, co-discoverer of Raman scattering of light
* Mikhail Lavrentyev, physicist and mathematician, founded the Siberian Division of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and Akademgorodok in Novosibirsk
* Pyotr Lebedev, first to measure the radiation pressure on a solid body, thus proving the Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism
* Heinrich Lenz, discovered the Lenz's law of electromagnetism
* Aleksandr Il'ich Leipunskii, pioneered the development of fast breeder reactors in the USSR.
* Evgeny Lifshitz, an author of the BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution, co-author of the famous Course of Theoretical PhysicsLenz
* Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist, artist and inventor, proposed the law of conservation of matter, disproved the phlogiston theory
* Oleg Losev, inventor of light-emitting diode and crystadine

### M

* Alexander Makarov, inventor of orbitrap
* Boris Mamyrin, inventor of reflectron
* Leonid Mandelshtam, co-discoverer of the Raman effect
* Stanislav Mikheyev, co-discoverer of the Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect of neutrino oscillations

### N

* Konstantin Novoselov, inventor of graphene, developer of gecko tape, Nobel Prize winner

### O

* Yuri Oganessian, nuclear physicist in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), co-discoverer of the heaviest elements in the periodic table; element Oganesson

### P

* Vasily Petrov, discoverer of electric arc, proposed arc lamp and arc welding
* Boris Podolsky, an author of EPR Paradox in quantum physics
* Alexander Polyakov, developed the concepts of Polyakov action, 't Hooft–Polyakov monopole and BPST instanton
* Isaak Pomeranchuk, predicted synchrotron radiation
* Bruno Pontecorvo, a founder of neutrino high energy physics, his work led to the discovery of PMNS matrix
* Alexander Popov, inventor of lightning detector, one of the inventors of radio, recorded the first experimental radiolocation at sea
* Victor Popov, co-discoverer of Faddeev–Popov ghosts in quantum field theory
* Alexander Prokhorov, co-inventor of laser and maser, Nobel Prize winnerProkhorov

### R

* Georg Wilhelm Richmann, inventor of electrometer, pioneer researcher of atmospheric electricity, killed by a ball lightning in experiment

### S

* Andrei Sakharov, co-developer of tokamak and the Tsar Bomb, inventor of explosively pumped flux compression generator, Nobel Peace Prize winner
* Nikolay Semyonov, physical chemist, co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
* Lev Shubnikov, discoverer of Shubnikov–de Haas effect, one of the first researchers of solid hydrogen and liquid helium
* Dmitri Skobeltsyn, first to use cloud chamber for studying cosmic rays, the first to observe positrons
* Alexei Smirnov, co-discoverer of Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect of neutrino oscillations
* Arseny Sokolov, co-discoverer of Sokolov–Ternov effect, a developer of synchrotron radiation theory
* Mark Stockman, optical physicist, co-discoverer of spaser
* Aleksandr Stoletov, inventor of photoelectric cell, built the Stoletov curve and pioneered the research of ferromagnetism

### T

* Igor Tamm, explained the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation, co-developer of tokamak, Nobel Prize winner
* Karen Ter-Martirosian, theoretical physicist, known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, founder of the Elementary Particle Physics chair of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
* Igor Ternov, co-discoverer of Sokolov–Ternov effect of synchrotron radiation

### U

* Nikolay Umov, discovered the Umov-Poynting vector and Umov effect, the first to propose the formula $E=kmc^{2}$
* Petr Ufimtsev, developed the theory that led to modern stealth technology

### V

* Sergey Vavilov, co-discoverer of Cherenkov radiation, formulated the Kasha–Vavilov rule of quantum yieldsStoletov
* Vladimir Veksler, inventor of synchrophasotron, co-inventor of synchrotron
* Evgeny Velikhov, leader of the international program ITER (thermonuclear experimental tokamak)
* Anatoly Vlasov, developed the Vlasov equation in plasma physics

### Y

* Alexey Yekimov, discoverer of quantum dots

### Z

* Yevgeny Zavoisky, inventor of EPR spectroscopy, co-developer of NMR spectroscopy
* Yakov Zel'dovich, physicist and cosmologist, predicted the beta decay of a pi meson and the muon catalysis, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortionZhukovsky
* Nikolai Zhukovsky, a founder of aero- and hydrodynamics, the first to study airflow, author of Joukowsky transform and Kutta–Joukowski theorem, founder of TsAGI and pioneer of aviation