Vladimir Fock

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Vladimir Fock
A. D. Aleksandrov
F. I. Fedorov
Yu. A. Yappa

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock (or Fok; Russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Фок) (December 22, 1898 – December 27, 1974) was a Soviet physicist, who did foundational work on quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics.

Biography

He was born in

Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology, in 1934–1941 and 1944–1953 with the Lebedev Physical Institute
.

Scientific work

His primary scientific contribution lies in the development of quantum physics and the theory of gravitation, although he also contributed significantly to the fields of mechanics, theoretical optics, physics of continuous media. In 1926, he derived the

geophysical exploration in a book The theory of the study of the rocks resistance by the carottage method (1933), methods called well logging
in modern literature.

Fock made significant contributions to

general principle of relativity, as being devoid of physical substance, and the equivalence principle
, as interpreted as the equivalence of gravitation and acceleration, as having only a local validity.

In Leningrad, Fock created a scientific school in theoretical physics and raised the physics education in the USSR through his books. He wrote the first textbook on quantum mechanics Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics (1931, 1978) and a very influential monograph The Theory of Space, Time and Gravitation (1955).

Historians of science, such as Loren Graham, see Fock as a representative and proponent of Einstein's theory of relativity within the Soviet world. At a time when most Marxist philosophers objected to relativity theory, Fock emphasized a materialistic understanding of relativity that coincided philosophically with Marxism.

He was a full member (

USSR Academy of Sciences (1939) and a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science
.

A memorial coin with Fock being second from the right

See also

References

  • Graham, L. (1982). "The reception of Einstein's ideas: Two examples from contrasting political cultures". In Holton, G. and Elkana, Y. (Eds.) Albert Einstein: Historical and cultural perspectives. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, pp. 107–136
  • Fock, V. A. (1964). "The Theory of Space, Time and Gravitation". Macmillan.

External links