Dmitri Ivanenko facts for kids

Dmitri Dmitrievich Ivanenko (Ukrainian: Дмитро́ Дми́трович Іване́нко, Russian: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Иване́нко; July 29, 1904 – December 30, 1994) was a smart scientist from Ukraine. He was a theoretical physicist who lived from 1904 to 1994. He made many big discoveries in physics during the 20th century.

His work was very important for understanding nuclear physics (how atoms work). He also helped develop field theory and gravitation theory (how gravity works). He worked at many important places, including the Ukrainian Physico-Technical Institute and Moscow State University.

A Young Scientist's Journey

Dmitri Ivanenko was born in Poltava, Ukraine, on July 29, 1904. He finished school there and then studied at the Poltava Pedagogical Institute. He started his career by teaching physics in a middle school.

Later, he went to Kharkiv University. In 1923, he moved to Petrograd University. Even as a student, he began doing important scientific work. In 1926, he wrote his first science papers. He worked with famous scientists like George Gamow and Lev Landau. They explored new ideas about space and how tiny particles move.

After university, from 1927 to 1930, Dmitri Ivanenko was a research scientist. He worked at the Physical Mathematical Institute in the Soviet Union. During these years, he worked with other brilliant minds. These included Vladimir Fock and Viktor Ambartsumian. This was a time when modern physics was just starting. New ideas about quantum mechanics and nuclear physics were being formed.

Big Ideas and Discoveries

In 1928, Ivanenko and Lev Landau came up with a new theory. It described tiny particles called fermions. This theory is now known as the Ivanenko-Landau-Kahler theory. It helps explain how these particles behave, especially in a gravitation field.

A year later, in 1929, Ivanenko and Vladimir Fock made another important discovery. They described how spinors (which are like tiny arrows that describe particles) move in curved space. A famous scientist, Abdus Salam, called this the first gauge field theory. This type of theory is very important in modern physics.

In 1930, Ivanenko and Viktor Ambartsumian suggested a new idea. They thought that massive particles could be created. This idea became a key part of modern quantum field theory.

Leading the Way in Physics

From 1929 to 1931, Dmitri Ivanenko worked at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. He was the first head of its theoretical division. He also helped start the first Soviet theoretical conference in 1929. He even helped create a new science journal called Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion.

After returning to Leningrad, Ivanenko focused on nuclear physics. In 1932, he proposed a very important idea. He suggested that the atomic nucleus (the center of an atom) is made of protons and neutrons. This idea is now in many physics textbooks, even school ones!

Later, Ivanenko and E. Gapon added to this idea. They suggested that protons and neutrons are arranged in layers, like shells, inside the nucleus. This is called the nuclear shell model. In 1933, Ivanenko and Igor Kurchatov organized the first Soviet conference on nuclear physics.

In 1934, Ivanenko and Igor Tamm developed a theory about how nuclear forces work. They suggested that particles could exchange other particles to interact. This idea was very important. Later, Nobel Prize winner Hideki Yukawa used their model to develop his meson theory.

Challenges and New Focus

Dmitri Ivanenko's work was interrupted for a time. In 1935, he was sent to Tomsk. He became a professor at Tomsk University from 1936 to 1938. Before World War II, he also worked at Ural State University and Kiev University. In 1940, he earned his doctoral degree.

During this time, Ivanenko's interest shifted. He started to focus on cosmic ray theory. He also proposed a new idea for Dirac's equation in 1938. Later, Werner Heisenberg and Ivanenko used this idea to create a new field theory in the 1950s.

Later Years and Global Influence

From 1943 until his death, Professor Ivanenko worked at Moscow State University.

In 1943, Ivanenko and Isaak Pomeranchuk predicted something amazing. They said that fast-moving electrons in magnetic fields would give off light. This is called synchrotron radiation. American scientists soon found this radiation. It opened up a whole new area of physics because of its special properties.

Ivanenko's students, like Arsenij Sokolov and Igor Ternov, helped develop the theory of synchrotron radiation. For their work, Ivanenko and Sokolov won the Stalin Prize in 1950. They also published important books on field theory.

After the war, Professor Ivanenko worked on many topics. These included hypernucleus theory and gravitation theory.

In the 1960s, Dmitri Ivanenko worked hard to organize gravity research in the USSR. In 1961, he started the first Soviet gravitation conference. This led to many more conferences on gravity. He was also a member of the International Gravitation Committee.

Ivanenko also ran a very important seminar on theoretical physics at Moscow State University. It met for 50 years under his guidance. Famous physicists from all over the world attended, including Niels Bohr, Paul Dirac, and Julian Schwinger. They discussed many different areas of physics, like gravity and elementary particle physics.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ivanenko focused mostly on gravitation theory. His team explored new ideas about Einstein's general relativity. This included ideas like quark stars and gauge gravitation theory. In 1985, he and his team published two important books on gravity.

Dmitri Ivanenko was always interested in new ideas in science. He liked ideas that were based on strong math or experiments. He passed away on December 30, 1994, at the age of 90. His sister, Oksana Ivanenko, was a children's writer.

Key Scientific Contributions

Dmitri Ivanenko made many important contributions to physics. Here are some of his most famous achievements:

• The Fock–Ivanenko coefficients (1929): These helped describe how tiny particles called spinors move in curved space.
• The Ambartsumian–Ivanenko hypothesis (1930): This was an idea about how massive particles could be created.
• The proton–neutron model of atomic nuclei (1932): This explained that the center of an atom is made of protons and neutrons.
• The first shell model of nuclei (1932, with E. Gapon): This suggested that protons and neutrons are arranged in layers inside the nucleus.
• The first model of exchange nuclear forces (1934, with Igor Tamm): This explained how particles interact by exchanging other particles.
• The prediction of synchrotron radiation (1944, with Isaak Pomeranchuk): They predicted that fast electrons in magnetic fields would give off light.
• The theory of Hypernucleus|hypernuclei (1956): This looked at atomic nuclei that contain special particles called hyperons.
• The hypothesis of quark stars (1965, with D. Kurdgelaidze): This was an idea about a type of super-dense star made of quarks.
• The gauge gravitation theory (1983, with G. Sardanashvily): A new way to understand gravity using gauge theory.

Dmitri Ivanenko wrote more than 300 scientific papers. He also published 6 books and edited 11 other books.