Ginzburg, Vitaly Lazarevich (1916-2009), a Russian physicist, won a share of the 2003 Nobel Prize in physics for his research on superconductivity , the ability of some substances to conduct electric current without resistance. The prize was also awarded to the Soviet-born physicist Alexei A. Abrikosov and the British-born physicist Anthony J. Leggett .
Ginzburg won the Nobel Prize for research he conducted with the Russian physicist Lev Landau in the early 1950’s. Ginzburg and Landau studied the connection between superconductivity and magnetic fields (areas of magnetic force). Their work resulted in a set of equations that describe the behavior of superconductors.
Superconductors can conduct electric current without resistance only under certain conditions. They must be cooled below a certain temperature. In addition, strong magnetic fields can disrupt their ability to superconduct. Similarly, a strong electric current can interfere with superconductivity. Ginzburg and Landau’s equations allowed them to predict and describe the conditions necessary for different materials to superconduct. Their work also suggested the existence of superconductors that could function in a much stronger magnetic field than those known at the time. Abrikosov later described the new type of superconductors, called type-II superconductors, in greater detail.
Ginzburg also conducted research in other areas of physics. He wrote books and papers on such topics as cosmic rays , crystals , plasmas (ionized gases), and superfluidity , the ability of certain fluids to flow absolutely freely at extremely low temperatures.
Ginzburg was born on Oct. 4, 1916, in Moscow . He earned a doctor’s degree in physics from Moscow State University in 1940. That same year, he began teaching and conducting research at Moscow’s P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute. In 1945, he began working as a part-time professor at Gorki State University in what is now Nizhniy Novgorod . He became a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1968. Ginzburg died on Nov. 8, 2009.
