Lev Landau

Lev Davidovich Landau (22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet theoretical physicist whose pioneering work in condensed matter physics, particularly the theory of superfluidity in liquid helium, earned him the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics. His contributions encompassed a broad range of theoretical physics, from the general theory of second-order phase transitions developed in 1936 to comprehensive explanations of quantum liquids including superfluid helium-4 (1941–1947) and helium-3 (1956–1958). Born in Baku to an engineer and a physician, Landau graduated from the Physical Department of Leningrad University at age 19, then worked abroad from 1929 to 1931 in institutions including Niels Bohr's institute in Copenhagen. He led the Theoretical Department at the Ukrainian Physico-Technical Institute in Kharkov from 1932 to 1937 before heading the corresponding department at the Institute for Physical Problems of the Moscow Academy of Sciences from 1937 until his death, while also serving as a professor at Moscow State University. Landau's theories introduced quasiparticles such as rotons and vortices to describe the frictionless flow of superfluid helium below temperatures just above absolute zero, fundamentally advancing the quantum mechanical understanding of many-body systems. In 1962, shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize, he suffered a severe car accident that induced a prolonged coma and ultimately limited his further contributions, though he survived for six more years.

Lev Davidovich Landau was born on 22 January 1908 in Baku, then the capital of the Baku Governorate within the Russian Empire (now Azerbaijan), to parents David Lvovich Landau and Lyubov Veniaminovna Harkavi. His family was of Jewish origin, with his father employed as an engineer in the burgeoning petroleum industry centered around Baku's oil fields. The family briefly resided in the nearby Balakhani oil settlement due to his father's work.

Lev Landau completed his secondary education at the Baku Jewish High School by age 13 in 1921, having begun formal schooling there in September 1916 at age eight. Due to Soviet regulations requiring a minimum age for university entry, he spent the following year, from 1921 to 1922, at the Baku Economic Technical School.

Landau's parents, David Lvovich Landau, a petroleum engineer, and Lyubov Veniaminovna, a physician and midwife, married in 1905 and raised him alongside his sister Sofia (born 1906) in Baku. Landau maintained tender relations with his mother until her death in 1941, reflecting a family environment shaped by intellectual pursuits, as his parents were both educated professionals of Jewish descent. He later provided financial support to his sister, allocating 10% of his income to her, indicating ongoing familial obligations amid his career demands.