Lavrentiev Mikhail Alekseevich - Soviet scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics. Mikhail Alekseevich was born on November 19, 1900 in Kazan. Mikhail Alekseevich received his secondary education at the Kazan Commercial School. After graduation, he entered Kazan University. Mikhail Alekseevich graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University in 1922. At the end of 1927, M. A. Lavrent'ev was elected Privatdozent of Moscow University and a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society.
Since 1929 he became the head of the department and received the title of professor at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. In the same year, he began working as a senior engineer at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI). The interests of Lavrentiev and his group included such sections of hydro-aerodynamics as the theory of an oscillating wing, the movement of a wing under the surface of a heavy liquid, impact solid body about water, the construction of a stream flowing around an arc of a given shape, and a number of others. The results obtained were subsequently used, in particular, in solving the flutter problem. Was found general method solving the problem of flow around thin airfoils of arbitrary shape; it is shown that the wing in the form of an arc of a circle has the greatest lifting force. Applied problems stimulated further research on the theory of variational principles of conformal mappings. In 1934 M.A. Lavrentiev received a doctorate degree technical sciences, and in 1935 - doctors of physical and mathematical sciences.
In the same year he was invited as a senior research fellow at the Mathematical Institute. V.A. Steklov Academy of Sciences of the USSR. At the Institute of M.A. Lavrentiev worked for more than 25 years. In 1939 he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and director Mathematical Institute AN Ukrainian SSR. Here he conducts intensive research on the theory of functions of a complex variable and its applications. In Ukraine, studies by M.A. Lavrentiev in the field of explosion, a school was created, which is fruitfully working at the present time. From 1941 to 1945 Mikhail Alekseevich was the head of the Mathematical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev, together with the staff of the Institute of Mathematics, is working on problems of a defensive nature, solving the most difficult problems related to the improvement of artillery weapons and engineering. Together with his students, he solves the theory of a directed explosion, turning it from a tool of destruction into a tool of creation. In 1944, after long and painful calculations, Lavrent'ev proved the theorem on the existence of a solitary wave. This study ended a dispute that had dragged on for a hundred years between the greatest mathematicians in many countries.
In 1946 he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. For research in the field of the theory of functions of a complex variable and the creation of the theory of quasi-conformal mappings, he was awarded the Stalin (State) Prize. In 1949 he was awarded the second Stalin Prize for his theory of cumulative jets.
Since 1948 he has been working again at Moscow University. During this period, higher educational institution new type - the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, which played an exceptionally important role in the training of highly qualified personnel for new branches of science and technology that arose in post-war years. At this institute M.A. Lavrentiev founded the specialization in the theory of explosions, headed the department. In 1950, Mikhail Alekseevich was elected director of the Institute of Fine Mechanics and Computer Engineering. The institute creates the first samples of Soviet electronic calculating machines - the founders of modern Soviet computer technology.
In 1957, Lavrentiev was elected Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At the suggestion of Lavrentiev, a whole series of experimental production facilities and design institutes are being created around Akademgorodok. In subsequent years, the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences carried out large-scale research in a number of leading industries. modern science and gains wide popularity in our country and abroad. Fundamental scientific research of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences has found wide application in solving actual problems development of the productive forces of Siberia, Far East and the European part of the country. In Akademgorodok, first specialized physical and mathematical, and then chemical boarding schools were created, and for children with design inclinations - a club young technicians. At active participation M. A. Lavrentiev, a polytechnic technical school was created and Novosibirsk University With new system training of students, which is taught by scientists from the Siberian Branch, who directly create the science of today. The institutes of Akademgorodok became the basis for student practice.
Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev - Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, member of a number of foreign academies and scientific societies, awarded 5 orders of Lenin, the Order October revolution, the Order of the Patriotic War, 3 Orders of the Red Banner and many medals, he was awarded the highest award of the USSR Academy of Sciences - Golden medal them. M.V. Lomonosov..
Works: Fundamentals of the calculus of variations. In 2 parts. M. - L., ONTI, 1935 (co-author: L.A. Lyusternik); Course of calculus of variations. M. - L., ONTI, 1938 (co-author: L.A. Lyusternik); Conformal mappings with applications to some questions in mechanics. M. - L., GTTI, 1946; Variational method in boundary value problems for systems of equations of elliptic type. M., Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1962; Methods of the theory of functions of a complex variable, 4th ed., M., 1973 (co-author: B.V. Shabat); Problems of hydrodynamics and their mathematical models. 2nd ed., M., 1977 (co-author: B.V. Shabat); Selected writings. Mathematics and mechanics. M., Nauka, 1990.
Great scientist Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev passed away October 15, 1980 in Moscow. He was buried at the Southern Cemetery in Novosibirsk.
Mikhail Lavrentiev awards
Hero of Socialist Labor (04/29/1967) - for outstanding services in the development of science and organization of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Five Orders of Lenin (09/19/1953; 06/01/1956; 11/16/1960; 04/29/1967; 09/17/1975)
Order of the October Revolution (11/18/1970)
Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class (10/01/1944)
Four Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (06/10/1945; 01/23/1948; 01/04/1954; 04/20/1956)
Order of the Legion of Honor of the degree Commander - 1971 - the highest award of France
Order of Cyril and Methodius, 1st class (Bulgaria, 1969)
Lenin Prize (1958) - for work on the creation of an artillery atomic charge
Stalin Prize of the first degree (1946) - for the development of a variational-geometric method for solving nonlinear problems in the theory of partial differential equations, which is important for hydromechanics and aeromechanics, set out in the articles: "On some properties of univalent functions with applications to the theory of jets", "On the theory of quasi-conformal mappings", "On some approximate formulas in the Dirichlet problem", "On the theory of long waves" (1938-1943)
Stalin Prize of the first degree (1949) - for theoretical research in the field of hydrodynamics (1948)
Big gold medal named after M. V. Lomonosov - 1977 - for outstanding achievements in the field of mathematics and mechanics
Honorary citizen of the city of Novosibirsk.
Membership in scientific communities
Since 1957 full member of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia
Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences of the NRB since 1966
Since 1969 Corresponding Member of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin
Since 1971 foreign member of the Paris Academy of Sciences
In 1966-1970, Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union
Major Works of Mikhail Lavrentiev
Fundamentals of the calculus of variations ... / M. Lavrentiev, L. Lyusternik. - M.-L.: Onti, 1935;
The course of the calculus of variations / M. A. Lavrentiev, L. A. Lyusternik. - M.-L.: GONTI, 1938;
Variational method in boundary value problems for systems of equations of elliptic type. M., 1962;
Methods of the theory of functions of a complex variable. 3rd ed. M., 1965 (co-author);
Problems of hydrodynamics and their mathematical models. - M., 1977;
Science, technical progress. Frames: Sat. articles and speeches. Novosibirsk, 1980;
Siberia will grow. M., 1980.
Memory of Mikhail Lavrentiev
In honor of Lavrentiev are named:
Akademika Lavrentiev Street in Dolgoprudny (Moscow Region) and a street in Kazan;
Prospect Academician Lavrentiev in Novosibirsk, where his bronze bust is installed;
Institute of Hydrodynamics. M. A. Lavrentiev SB RAS;
School of Physics and Mathematics at NSU, auditorium of NSU and Lyceum No. 130;
Research vessel "Akademik Lavrentiev";
Mountain peaks in the Pamirs and Altai.
Installed on the building of the Institute of Hydrodynamics in honor of M.A. Lavrentiev Memorial plaque. The Center for Minor Planets named planet No. 7322 Lavrentina (in honor of academicians Mikhail Alekseevich and Mikhail Mikhailovich Lavrentiev).
Family of Mikhail Lavrentiev
Father - Alexey Lavrentievich Lavrentiev, professor of mechanics, first at Kazan, then at Moscow University, (1876-1953).
Mother - Anisia Mikhailovna (1876-1953).
Wife - Vera Evgenievna (married since 1928) (nee Danchakova, 1902-1995), biologist.
Son - Mikhail (1932-2010), academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, mathematician.
Daughter - Vera.
15.10.1980
Lavrentiev Mikhail Alekseevich
Russian Mathematician
Hero of Socialist Labor
Mikhail Lavrentiev was born on November 19, 1900 in the city of Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan. The boy's father, Alexei Lavrentievich, was a professor of mechanics, first at Kazan and then at Moscow University. The guy received his secondary education at the Kazan Commercial School. After graduation, he entered Kazan University.
In 1921 the Lavrentiev family moved to Moscow. A year later, Mikhail Alekseevich, having transferred from Kazan University, graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Lomonosov Moscow State University. In the metropolitan university, Lavrentiev was a member of the Lusitania: the mathematical school of Professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin. characteristic feature Nikolai Luzin as a scientist and teacher was an invariable craving for setting fundamentally new problems, the ability to find new approaches to old problems.
During these years, under the leadership of Luzin, the Moscow School of Mathematics was formed, from which came a whole galaxy of outstanding Soviet mathematicians, among whom was Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev. From 1923 to 1926 Lavrentiev was Luzin's post-graduate student on the theory of functions of a real variable. While still a student, Mikhail Aleseevich began to teach at the Moscow Higher Technical School.
After defending his dissertation in 1927, Lavrentiev was sent to France for six months for scientific improvement. There Mikhail communicated with prominent French mathematicians: Arnaud Danjoy, Jacques Hadamard, Paul Montel. He listened to lectures by Edouard Gours, Emile Borel and Gaston Julia. Participated in seminars on the theory of functions. During his stay in Paris, Lavrentiev published two papers on the theory of functions in the Reports of the French Academy of Sciences.
At the end of 1927, Lavrentiev became assistant professor at Moscow State University and a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. At that time, Mikhail Alekseevich gave the first course on the theory of conformal mappings at Moscow State University. The beginning of his research on the theory of quasiconformal mappings dates back to the same time. A year later, as part of a delegation, he participated in the International Mathematical Congress in Bologna, Italy. At the age of about 29, Lavrentiev became the head of the department and received the title of professor at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology.
In 1934, Mikhail Alekseevich was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences, and in 1935, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Then he was invited as a senior research fellow at the Vladimir Steklov Mathematical Institute. At the institute, he worked for more than 25 years, where he headed the department, which conducted the most complex research in the field of function theory. In addition, prepared a large number of outstanding scientists, acting as the generally recognized head of the national school of function theory.
From this period begins another period in the life and work of Lavrentiev: the period of his direct influence on the development of mathematics in various scientific centers Soviet Union. At this time, he was invited to Georgia to give lectures and guide graduate students.
In 1939, Lavrentiev was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and director of the Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. The famous investigations in the field of explosions have also begun in the Ukraine, and a school has been created that is fruitfully working to this day. From 1941 to 1945, Mikhail Alekseevich was the head of the Mathematical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
In the terrible years of the Great Patriotic War, when all the forces of the people and science were given to the front, Mikhail Alekseevich continued research in the field of explosions, successfully solving a number of military engineering problems. In 1945, Lavrentyev became vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. He held this post, which marked the recognition of scientific and organizational talent, for three years. In 1946, Lavrentiev was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and was awarded the State Prize for research in the theory of functions of a complex variable and the creation of the theory of quasiconformal mappings. In 1949 he was awarded the second State Prize for his theory of cumulative jets.
At the end of the 1940s, Mikhail Alekseevich made a report "Ways for the Development of Soviet Mathematics" at a session of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Particular attention is paid to computational mathematics and engineering. The scientist called for the speedy creation of an institute of computer technology. In 1950, he was elected director of the Institute of Fine Mechanics and Computer Technology, where the first samples of electronic calculating machines were created in the shortest possible time: the founders of modern computer technology. Lavrentiev headed this institute until 1953.
In parallel, until 1953, Lavrentiev was the Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences. This activity gave great importance, paying exceptional attention to the development of the general directions of science of that time, its connection, moreover, completely specific, with the most acute needs of the country. From 1953 to 1955 he worked together with the famous Russian academician Kurchatov.
In the late spring of 1957, a decision was made to establish the Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and Academician Mikhail Lavrentiev was elected its chairman. Thanks to him, first specialized physical and mathematical, and then chemical boarding schools were created in the academic town, for children with design inclinations: a club of young technicians. With the active participation of Lavrentiev, Novosibirsk University was also created.
Lavrentiev was often abroad, where he lectured and studied the state of mathematics and mechanics. Mikhail Alekseevich from 1962 to 1966 was a member, and from 1966 to 1970 he was elected vice-president of the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union. In addition, he acted as a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin, the Academy of Sciences of Liopoldinak, the French Academy of Sciences, a member International Academy astronautics, as well as a member of a number of international and national scientific organizations.
In 1967, for outstanding services in the development of science and organization of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Mikhail Alekseevich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. In 1971, Lavrentiev was awarded the highest award of France: the Order of the Legion of Honor of the degree Commander. In 1977, for outstanding achievements in the field of mathematics and mechanics, he was awarded the large gold medal named after Mikhail Lomonosov.
I was lucky to live in the Novosibirsk Academgorodok almost from its very foundation to the present day, that is, more than fifty years. Here, in Siberia, on the shores of the man-made Ob Sea, in essence, my entire conscious life has passed. And I consider myself very lucky...
The decision to create Akademgorodok was taken by the Government of the USSR in May 1957, construction began in 1958, and the very next year the first buildings of research institutes and residential buildings appeared here (the Institute of Hydrodynamics was the first to be commissioned). In subsequent years, over 20 more institutes, residential areas and Novosibirsk State University were built. During the Soviet period (1959-1991) Academgorodok was considered a prestigious place to live.
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Siberian branch Russian Academy Sciences (SB RAS) was founded in 1957 by academicians M. A. Lavrentiev, S. L. Sobolev, S. A. Khristianovich. Scientific centers of the SB RAS are located in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, Ulan-Ude, Kemerovo, Tyumen, Omsk, some institutes operate in Barnaul, Chita, Kyzyl. The SB RAS is 77 research institutions. Approximately half of the scientific potential is concentrated in Novosibirsk. Total population scientific works The number of scientists of the SB RAS is about 9,000 people, including 125 members of the Academy, 1926 Doctors of Science and 4988 Candidates of Science, 1952 employees without a scientific degree.
Chekists or scientists?
Where did it all begin? There are different versions here. One thing is certain: the idea of creating in Siberia a “sharashka without barbed wire” (as Akademgorodok was sometimes called before) was so atypical for Soviet times that at first glance it looked like a grandiose adventure. But only at first glance.
The point is that almost all scientific life The USSR of the late fifties was concentrated in Moscow and Leningrad. But back then it already existed. nuclear weapon, and these cities on the military maps of the Americans were designated as strategic targets, which in the event of war they were going to wipe out from the face of the earth in the first place. This, of course, was well understood by the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU and our generals. Therefore, the question arose: how to save at least part of the scientific centers working on the military-industrial complex in the event of a nuclear strike?
They say that the idea to "hide" science in the remote Siberian taiga originated with Lavrenty Beria.
But even if this is so, it is hardly worth considering him the author of the idea of Akademgorodok. The methods of Lavrenty Palych are painfully well known. He would have found ways to send scientists to Siberia without much cost and effort. But apparently he didn't. By 1958, the political landscape in the USSR had changed a lot, repressive methods were branded at the party congress, and Beria himself was no longer alive.
Stalin's times have irrevocably passed, but the problem of a nuclear strike remains. And it became obvious that the foundations of the Siberian scientific center should be laid not by security officers, but by scientists. But as? After all, there was nothing like it in the country then. Fortunately for Akademgorodok, among the well-known scientists time there was a man who became its founding father - Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev. Believe me, these are not big words, not pathos on duty. Any resident of Akademgorodok will tell you the same thing. Lavrentiev was loved here and still is loved.
Academician Lavrentiev
Academician Lavrentiev was an amazing personality. It's the personality. For fellow scientists, he is, first of all, one of the greatest mathematicians of our time, the author of many fundamental works and the famous "Lavrentiev's theorem", which is included in all textbooks of hydrodynamics. However, Mikhail Alekseevich managed to influence not only theoretical basis world science. By some unthinkable coincidence, he managed to have a hand in launching several key projects at once, which later largely determined the future of our country.
Let's start with the fact that Lavrentiev stood at the very origins of the creation of the legendary Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), which later turned into the main forge of scientific personnel for the Soviet "defense industry". At the dawn of the “atomic era”, he also held one of the key posts in KB-11 (as the Arzamas-16 Nuclear Center used to be called).
And you can also remember his role in creating the prototype of the current computer - a computer. How many of us know about this? Here is what academician Sergei Alekseevich Lebedev wrote, under whose leadership the first operating model of the domestic “electronic computer” was launched in 1950:
“The times were difficult, the country was restoring the economy destroyed by the war, every little thing was a problem. And it is not known whether the first-born of Soviet computer technology would have appeared if we had not had a kind patron - Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentiev, who was then vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. I still never cease to be surprised and admire the indomitable energy with which Lavrentiev defended and pushed through his ideas. In my opinion, it is difficult to find a person who, having met him, would not be infected by his enthusiasm.
In order to remove all the obstacles that hinder the creation of computers, Lavrentiev even ventured to write to Stalin. Agree, a risky step for those times. But the result turned out to be surprising: instead of sending Lavrentiev to Siberia, the author of the letter was appointed director of the new Institute of Fine Mechanics and Computer Technology of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Yes, Lavrentiev managed to do a lot. But still, his favorite brainchild was our Akademgorodok. The idea is to build a city of Scientists from scratch, where science and education will feed each other, and everyday life will allow scientists not to be distracted from the search for new discoveries, haunted Mikhail Alekseevich for a long time. Although, perhaps, it seemed at times almost impossible. And suddenly, at the end of the fifties, a ghostly chance appeared to realize it.
Houses in the taiga
The idea of hiding a powerful scientific center working for the military-industrial complex and inaccessible to atomic bombs enemy, in the depths of Siberia, Khrushchev liked it. Formally, this became the starting point for the emergence of Akademgorodok.
Lavrentiev, whose ability to infect other people with his ideas, we have already spoken about, quickly found like-minded people here too. Two of the greatest scientists of that time agreed to voluntarily go to Siberia - academicians Sergei Lvovich Sobolev and Sergei Alekseevich Khristianovich.
There was also a fourth academician in this company - Nikita Nikolaevich Moiseev, but for some reason he changed his mind about going to Siberia at the last moment.
At first, the Siberian Academgorodok was going to be built in the foothills of Altai, not far from the famous resort of Belokurikha.
This place had many advantages: the marvelous beauty of nature, the purest air, a heavenly microclimate, remoteness from the hustle and bustle of big cities. But there were also serious shortcomings. There were no sightings nearby railway, no normal airport, no decent roads.
Moreover, the list of arguments “against” was not limited to this. It was necessary to build a whole city, but where in the Altai foothills is the construction industry, powerful sources of electricity or reliable means of communication? Of course, all of the above could have been created, but imagine how much time and money such construction would cost. It was necessary to look for an easier option. And soon he was found.
By the time Akademgorodok was born, just thirty kilometers from the rapidly developing Novosibirsk, the construction of the Obskaya hydroelectric power station was just being completed. And there were already access roads, factories producing building materials, the necessary equipment, and even convicts-builders (“the zero cycle” at large construction sites was carried out then, as a rule, with the help of slave labor) - in a word, everything that was needed for the construction of Akademgorodok. And Novosibirsk just lay at the intersection of all possible paths, and there was already some kind of academic science in it.
In short, soon the place for Akademgorodok was approved, and in the middle of a rather wild dense pine forest, the first buildings appeared - a hut for the family of Academician Lavrentiev and six more houses for young scientists who dared to change Moscow laboratories for the delights of the Siberian taiga.
From the memoirs of M.A. Lavrentiev: We received from the builders a beautiful, comfortable and at the same time modest city. Its main beauty is the forest, which is both around and inside the city. The builders complained that they were getting in the way of the trees, but even full turns of the tower cranes were forbidden so as not to damage the trees.
Town Phenomenon
Later, for the hut in which Lavrentiev settled with his wife, he received a dressing down from Khrushchev, who grumbled: “They built a hut there, and Academician Lavrentiev settled in it. They say that he covered the windows with pillows in the cold and blizzards. This is how the academician began his life on Siberian soil! This is commendable, this is a heroic deed, but it was hardly necessary.
Nikita Sergeevich rightly noted that decent academicians did not behave like that then (and even more so now). I just didn't understand General Secretary: Lavrentiev, in fact, did not fulfill the party task, but built the city of his dreams. And so he couldn't do otherwise. Although, as Mikhail Alekseevich himself recalled at that time: “... living conditions were not easy, especially in winter. They felled dead wood, sawed and chopped firewood, stoked stoves, dragged water in buckets. Since there were no shops nearby, they created a commune for catering and bought everything they needed collectively.”
Academgorodok began not with the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU, not with multimillion-dollar appropriations and foundation pits, but with a small hut in the Golden Valley. (This is how one of the students of the academician christened the place where they lived at that time, everyone liked the name and got accustomed). From the same hut where the first settlers celebrated holidays together, they sang songs, and on Sundays, when the canteen was closed, Lavrentyev's wife fed lunches to bachelor scientists.
Of course, Akademgorodok at the time of its heyday had many advantages. And yet, in my opinion, its uniqueness is not so much the streets and buildings in the middle of the taiga or the well-provided standard of living at that time. And even (I will express a seditious thought) not scientific discoveries, which happened here with enviable regularity ... These are all just external signs. The main thing is the wonderful atmosphere in which we lived throughout for long years, those human relations that have developed here since the first days of the appearance of scientists in the Golden Valley.
Naturally, many other things were also important. For example, how intelligently and quickly Akademgorodok was built. Or the fact that it was here that the academic dreamers managed to embody a completely new model interaction between science and education: lectures at the university were given by well-known scientists from the research institutes of the town, and students from the second or third year got into research laboratories, where, together with the masters, they were engaged in the development of real-life scientific problems. As a result, after receiving a diploma from NSU, they already had a good idea of what awaited them next, and did not start their scientific career from scratch. And it gave great results!
It is also worth recalling that Akademgorodok, due to the introduction of scientists' developments, paid back the costs of its construction in less than ten years. A phenomenal result, but I repeat: any material achievements pale in comparison with the cheerful and joyful atmosphere that was felt here, especially in the early years. If everything were otherwise, it is unlikely that the new stronghold of science would be strikingly different from the rest, rather dull, Soviet reality. And it is unlikely that my friends and I on the red days of the calendar would invariably raise a toast to our common destiny, which allowed us to be at the right time in the right place.
Force of gravity
Yes, we lived in a great place. Firstly, almost all residents of Akademgorodok had the most interesting work, which they could devote themselves entirely to. Secondly, almost all the "gorodkovtsy" were family friends, and often on the doors of the apartments one could see a note: "Please do not call - the child is sleeping. The key is under the rug. Thirdly, living conditions here were much better than, say, in Novosibirsk itself, where, just like throughout our “country of wholesale shortages”, store shelves were empty. The housing problem was solved much easier in Akademgorodok. It even happened that bachelors who received a separate room “gave” it to their newlywed friends, while they themselves went back to the hostel. They knew it wouldn't be long before a new housing order was issued.
All this, of course, made the residents of Akademgorodok very happy, but insanely irritated the party authorities. Novosibirsk region. However, they couldn't change anything. Academician Lavrentiev, even at the stage of the birth of the science city, managed to demand complete autonomy from local authorities: the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was managed and financed directly from Moscow. They even say that it was not Lavrentiev who went to an appointment with the first secretary of the Novosibirsk Regional Committee of the CPSU, but that one to him. I can imagine the reaction to these visits of the “first person in the region”, who had to endure such “humiliation”!
It is not surprising that the local nomenklatura did not like the idea of Akademgorodok, it was inconvenient, and at the slightest opportunity they made it felt. Mikhail Alekseevich recalled how he had to fight to knock out the goods intended for construction. Once there was a completely comical incident. Four ambulances were sent from Moscow to Akademgorodok, but they disappeared somewhere. And after a couple of months, according to Lavrentiev, someone suddenly noticed that the deputy chairmen of the Novosibirsk Economic Council were driving unusual cars. It turned out that the ambulances had been repainted, the crosses removed and adapted to carry the authorities.
Nevertheless, the intrigues of party functionaries did not seriously affect the development of Akademgorodok, and in the sixties it was already thundering throughout the country. Who has not come here to see with their own eyes this miracle in the middle of the Siberian taiga! Filmed here art films about nuclear physicists, hence the science fiction brothers Strugatsky, by their own admission, took away the image of the sorcerer's institute, which we now know from the story "Monday begins on Saturday."
And what concerts were given in Akademgorodok by world-famous musicians (for example, Svyatoslav Richter)! By the way, it was here, for the first time in the country, that jazz festivals were held. The House of Culture "Academy" and the House of Scientists, along with the famous cafe "Molodyozhnoye", which was located on Gorky Street in Moscow, are considered by many experts to be the birthplace of Soviet jazz. But was it only jazz that was born in Akademgorodok?!
Signs of life
One can talk endlessly about how Akademgorodok arose, what amazing people and events are inscribed in its history. Well, take at least the largest scientific developments for which he became famous throughout the world. How many articles do you need to write to get even a very, very rough idea of them? A bunch of.
We have something to remember… Leonid Vitalievich Kantorovich worked in Akademgorodok, the only mathematician who, in 1978, became Nobel Laureate. Here was the legendary club "Under the integral", which became one of the brightest symbols of the Khrushchev thaw, and the research and production association "Fakel", which made a sensation throughout the country, closed during the Brezhnev era. Can you list everything?
One thing is sad: the brightest pages of the life of Akademgorodok are far in the past. What are the reasons? Of course, in those destructive events that the country experienced at the end of the last century. But not only. Akademgorodok even before that began to rapidly “grow old”. By the end of the seventies, the children of those who came here to devote their lives scientific knowledge. Then it suddenly became clear: the overwhelming majority of the new generation does not want (or cannot) gnaw at the granite of science. And there was simply no other work in Akademgorodok. Perestroika, fall" iron curtain”, the dictatorship of the market further aggravated the situation and brought it to a critical point. The status of a scientist fell below nowhere, and most of the talented scientists, especially young ones, left to look for their "city of the Sun" outside our long-suffering Motherland.
At one time, Akademgorodok almost even turned into a "sleeping area for new Russians."
Wealthy, short-haired people with gold chains around their necks began to actively buy several apartments located nearby, unite them and, after a luxurious renovation, settle their wives and children in these mansions. However, the wives soon rebelled: they were mortally bored in the "intellectual village", where at that time there was not even a single decent nightclub. They were attracted to life big city. So the process of turning Akademgorodok into a "sleeping area of new Russians", thank God, first subsided, and then completely stopped.
Another encouraging sign of the times: some scientists who had gone abroad began to return. Having traveled around the world, they realized: it is better to live here, and it is also better to do science here. The only problem is money, because the salaries that even world-famous scientists receive from us cannot be called normal money.
However, as they say, the need for inventions is cunning, especially if this need is scientific degree. Long gone are the days when our professors, receiving the salaries of local laboratory assistants abroad, were insanely happy. Now every serious scientist knows what he is worth and is ready to be an "intellectual guest worker" for some time, but for very decent money.
Our professor will go somewhere to Paris, Lisbon, Tokyo or Chicago for five or six months, earn decent money there for a living, and then return to Akademgorodok, to his native institute and do science there until the money runs out. Then the story repeats itself: the scientist makes an agreement with the director of the institute, packs his suitcase and goes "to the laggard" (this term has already taken root in scientific circles).
As for me, having traveled almost half the world, I once and for all came to the conclusion that for me personally, our Akademgorodok, in spite of everything, was and remains the best place on the ground.
LAVRENTIEV, MIKHAIL ALEKSEEVICH(1900–1980), Soviet scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics, organizer of science.
Born on 6 (19 new style) November 1900 in Kazan in the family of a mathematics teacher at a technical educational institution (later a professor of mechanics, first at Kazan, then at Moscow University). In 1910-1911, together with his father, he was in Göttingen (Germany), where he went to school. He received his secondary education at the Kazan Commercial School, after graduating he entered Kazan University (1918). Professors of mathematics E.A. Bolotov, D.N. Zeiliger and N.N. Parfentiev had the greatest influence on Lavrentiev at Kazan University. Already here, Lavrentiev's noticeable predilection for mathematics began to show. He taught at Kazan University, worked as a laboratory assistant in the Mechanical Cabinet.
In 1921, together with his family, he moved to Moscow and transferred to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, in 1922 he graduated from Moscow State University.
While still a student in 1921, Lavrentiev began teaching at the Moscow Higher Technical School (now the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman), he continued teaching until 1929.
In Moscow, Lavrentiev entered the "Lusitania" - that was the joking name of the mathematical school, created around 1914 by the outstanding Russian mathematician N.N. Luzin (historically Lusitania is a province of the Roman Empire, on the territory modern Spain and Portugal, named after the inhabitant ancient tribe- Lusitanians). Scientific interests Luzin related to the theory of sets and the theory of functions, which were intensively developing at that time. A characteristic feature of Luzin as a scientist and educator was the collective form of research, contributing to the formulation of fundamentally new tasks and finding new approaches to old problems. A galaxy of outstanding Russian mathematicians left the school (I.I. Privalov, V.V. Stepanov, P.S. Aleksandrov, M.Ya. Suslin, D.E. Menshov, A.Ya. P.S. Uryson, V.N. Veniaminov, A.N. Kolmogorov, V.V. Nemytsky, L.V. Keldysh (M.V. Keldysh’s elder sister), P.S. Novikov, N.K. Bari and others), Lavrentiev belongs to their number. In 1923–1926, he was a post-graduate student of Luzin, engaged in research on set theory, topology (the science of general properties mathematical spaces preserved under continuous transformations), differential equations. First published work (on French) Contribution a la theorie des ensembles homeomorphes (On the study of homeomorphic sets) was published in France, 1924. The next seven of his works, completed in the period 1924-1927, were also published in French in Western European (mainly French) scientific publications - a common practice of Soviet scientists at that time. Since 1928 he has been published mainly in domestic editions.
In 1927 he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences and was sent to France for six months for scientific improvement. Communication with prominent French mathematicians Denjoy, Hadamard, Montel, lectures by Goursat, Borel and Julia, participation in seminars on the theory of functions became a good school for him.
Upon his return to Moscow (end of 1927) he was elected assistant professor at Moscow State University and a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. He began to read a course on the theory of conformal mappings (space transformations that preserve the magnitude of angles) at Moscow State University. From 1927, he took up the problem of approximating functions of a complex variable, which is important for applications (by simpler functions - polynomials), and the beginning of his research on the theory of quasi-conformal (close to conformal) mappings dates back to the same time, which was explained by the urgent needs of aerodynamics of increased velocities: a model of an incompressible fluid, used at low flight speeds is no longer valid.
In 1928, as a member of the Soviet delegation, he participated in the International Mathematical Congress in Bologna (Italy) with a report on quasiconformal mappings.
Since 1929 he became the head of the department and received the title of professor at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. In the same year, he began working as a senior engineer at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI). Here he was attracted by the head of the theoretical department of TsAGI S.A. Chaplygin. These were the years of the rapid flourishing of aircraft construction and the formation of the theory of flight, research on the aerodynamics of wings, which affected the further topics of Lavrentiev's research work. It was from this period, which lasted six years, that his activity began directly in the field of applied mathematics. He attracted his students to TsAGI, and then colleagues M.V. Keldysh and L.I. Sedov. The interests of Lavrentiev and his group included such sections of hydro-aerodynamics as the theory of an oscillating wing, the movement of a wing under the surface of a heavy liquid, the impact of a solid body on water, the construction of a flow around an arc of a given shape, and a number of others. The results obtained were subsequently used, in particular, in solving the flutter problem. A general method was found for solving the problem of flow around thin airfoils of arbitrary shape; it is shown that the wing in the form of an arc of a circle has the greatest lifting force. Applied problems stimulated further research on the theory of variational principles of conformal mappings. In 1935, Lavrentiev published (partially co-authored) 16 articles and abstracts, a monograph in 2 volumes, a program training course.
In 1931 he became a professor at Moscow State University, linking his life with the university for many years.
Without defending a dissertation (based on a set of scientific papers), Lavrentiev was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences in 1934, and in 1935 - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. At the same time he became a senior researcher at the Mathematical Institute. V.A.Steklov of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where he worked for more than 25 years. The influence of Lavrentiev on this scientific institution is still palpable. Since 1934, he headed the department of the theory of functions and brought up a large number of students who later became outstanding scientists, among them Academician A.Yu. Ishlinsky, Academician of the Academy pedagogical sciences A.I.Markushevich, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia A.V.Bitsadze. By the mid-1930s, Lavrentiev had become the generally recognized head of the Soviet school of the theory of functions of a complex variable.
In 1939 he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (AN Ukrainian SSR) and director of the Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and moved to Kyiv. Here he studied the theory of functions of a complex variable and its applications. In Ukraine, Lavrentiev's research related to the mechanics of the explosion was started and was created scientific school. He taught at Kiev University, professor (1939-1941 and 1945-1949), from 1941 to 1945 - head of the Mathematical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
During the Second World War, together with the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Lavrentiev was evacuated to the Urals in Ufa. Continued research in the field of explosions. Assuming that materials behave like viscous liquids at high temperatures, he developed a hydrodynamic theory of cumulation (the cumulative effect is an increase in the penetration ability of a projectile discovered in the second half of the 19th century with its special device, such that when a projectile collides with an obstacle, a high-velocity (cumulative ) a jet of powder gases and products of the melt of the metal shell, burning through the barrier). The results of the research, including the most important one - the depth of penetration of the jet into the barrier, are given in the article. Shaped charge and principles of its operation, 1957. Successfully solved a number of military engineering tasks, participated in the creation of a domestic cumulative projectile. When studying the features of cumulation, the phenomenon of explosion welding of metals was discovered, which was widely used in the future.
Lavrent'ev's attention was also attracted by the theory of long waves on the surface of a liquid under the action of gravity. Obtained the first proof of the existence of an exact solution of the soliton propagation equations (solitary surface wave) is given in the article On the theory of long waves, 1943, then in the article Until the theory of long agony(in Ukrainian), 1947 .
In February 1945 he returned from evacuation to Kyiv, became vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. He remained in this post until 1948.
In 1946 he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. For research in the field of the theory of functions of a complex variable and the creation of the theory of quasi-conformal mappings, he was awarded the Stalin (State) Prize. In 1949 he was awarded the second Stalin Prize for his theory of cumulative jets.
In connection with the problem of flooding trophy sea vessels studied the impact of an underwater explosion. Spent experimental verification theory developed by him at the academic base of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Feofaniya, a suburb of Kyiv. The formation of cumulative jets was found, which are formed when a cavity in the water collapses from the products of the explosion. Published work Experience in calculating the influence of the depth of immersion of a bomb in a liquid on its destructive force, 1946. The idea of using cord charges based on "wet powder", which turned out to be a suitable tool for laying trenches, for cutting metals, organizing directed explosions, etc., dates back to the same period.
Since 1948 he has been working at Moscow State University again. During this period, a new higher educational institution was created on the basis of Moscow State University - the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), which played an important role in the training of highly qualified personnel for new branches of science and technology that arose in the postwar years. At this institute, Lavrentiev founded a specialization in the theory of explosions, and headed the department of physics of fast processes (1955–1958). Engaged in directed explosions. The results are presented in the work About the directed throwing of soil with the help of an explosive, 1960.
Investigated equations of mixed type describing gas flows in the areas of transition through the speed of sound, suggested using a model linear equation of mixed type instead of the well-known Tricomi equation. In 1950 he published an article (co-authored with A.V. Bitsadze) On the problem of equations of mixed type.
In 1947 he made a report at the session of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Ways of development of Soviet mathematics(published in 1948). Particular attention was paid to computational mathematics and engineering. He called for the speedy creation of an institute of computer technology.
In 1950 he was elected director of the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering (established in 1948 in Moscow), whose chief designer was S.A. Lebedev, a specialist in electrical engineering and computer technology, later an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the Institute, in the shortest possible time, the first samples of Soviet electronic calculating machines, the founders of domestic computer technology, are being created. He headed this institute until 1953.
From 1951 to 1953 he was Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, he attached great importance to this activity, paid exceptional attention to the development of the main directions of the then science, its specific connection with practice.
From 1953 to 1955 he worked together with the head of the Soviet nuclear project, Academician I.V. Kurchatov, was the deputy chief designer of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building. In 1958 he was one of the first to receive the Lenin Prize (on special topics).
In 1955 he was elected a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, from 1955 to 1957 he was again Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
In 1957, together with academicians S.A. Khristianovich and S.L. Sobolev, he put forward the idea of creating scientific complexes in Siberia, in places especially intensive development industry and Agriculture. This idea was supported by a number of prominent scientists. On May 18, 1957, a government decision was made to establish the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and Lavrentiev became its chairman. He headed the Siberian Branch until 1975 (then he was Honorary Chairman). The Siberian branch has become widely known throughout the world, has proven itself not only by a series of fundamental developments, but also by applying them to the most vital tasks of developing Siberia, the Far East and the European part of the country.
The Institute of Hydrodynamics (now named after M.A. Lavrentiev, ISIL) was the first to start working in the Siberian Branch, the organizer and director of which was Lavrentiev. He owns the choice organizational structure institute, its scientific issues, giving them the character of both search and applied, determining an appropriate combination fundamental research with national economic goals. He headed the Institute until 1976.
With the support of Lavrentiev, B.V. Voitsekhovsky, V.V. Mitrofanov, M.E. Topchiyan and others developed the theory of spin detonation at the Institute (when propagating in a round tube, the detonation wave front of this kind describes a helical line on the tube walls).
In work On one principle of creating traction force for movement(together with M.M. Lavrentiev, 1962) proposed mechanical model(flexible rod in a channel with rigid walls) for studying the movement of snakes, fish, etc. Explored the dynamics of the cloud nuclear explosion, developed the theory of self-similar motion of turbulent vortex rings. He built new models of separated flow around bodies with aft circulation zone. He was also interested in other tasks: waves on the water and dampening them with rain; the emergence and development of giant sea waves (tsunamis), the fight against forest fires, the prevention of river pollution, the ecology of construction, the advantages of various electronic computing systems, the organization scientific research, teaching methods in higher and high school etc.
With the active participation of Lavrentiev, Novosibirsk State University was also created (it was organized in 1958, the first academic year began in September 1959 with a lecture by Academician S.L. Sobolev). The basis for student practice became scientific institutes Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. He lectured at the Novosibirsk University, professor of the university 1959–1966.
In the Novosibirsk Academgorodok, first specialized physical and mathematical, and then chemical boarding schools, a club of young technicians were created. Official opening of the country's first specialized physical and mathematical boarding school (PMS) at Novosibirsk state university took place in January 1963.
Received the title of honorary citizen of Novosibirsk (1970).
From 1976 he worked again in Moscow. In 1976-1980 Chairman of the USSR National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mathematics.
He often traveled abroad, where he lectured and studied the state of mathematics and mechanics. He was elected in 1962-1966 a member, and in 1966-1970 vice-president of the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union. He was elected a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin (GDR), the Academy of Sciences of Liopoldina (GDR), the French Academy of Sciences, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, as well as a member of a number of other international and national scientific organizations.
Wrote a number of monographs and textbooks.
For outstanding services in the development of science and organization of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1967). Awarded five Orders of Lenin (1953, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1975), the Order of the October Revolution (1970), four Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1945, 1948, 1953, 1954), the Order of the Patriotic War II degree (1944), the Order of the Legion of Honor degree Commander (the highest award of France, 1971), medals.
530 works of Lavrentiev are known (scientific and journalistic articles, reviews, reviews, monographs, textbooks, sketches of memoirs, etc.). Many of his students became outstanding scientists.
Compositions: Basics of the calculus of variations. In 2 parts. M. - L., ONTI, 1935 (co-author: L.A. Lyusternik); Calculus of Variations Course. M. - L., ONTI, 1938 (co-author: L.A. Lyusternik); Conformal mappings with applications to some questions in mechanics. M. - L., GTTI, 1946; Variational method in boundary value problems for systems of equations of elliptic type. M., Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1962; Methods of the theory of functions of a complex variable, 4th ed., M., 1973 (co-author: B.V. Shabat); Problems of hydrodynamics and their mathematical models. 2nd ed., M., 1977 (co-author: B.V. Shabat); Selected works. Mathematics and mechanics. M., Nauka, 1990.
Andrey Bogdanov
LAVRENTIEV, MICHAEL ALEXEYEVICH(1900-1980), Soviet scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics, organizer of science.
Born on 6 (19 new style) November 1900 in Kazan in the family of a mathematics teacher at a technical educational institution (later a professor of mechanics, first at Kazan, then at Moscow University). In 1910-1911, together with his father, he was in Göttingen (Germany), where he went to school. He received his secondary education at the Kazan Commercial School, after graduating he entered Kazan University (1918). The greatest impact on Lavrentiev at Kazan University, professors of mathematics E.A. Bolotov, D.N. Zeiliger and N.N. Parfentiev. Already here, a noticeable predilection began to affect Lavrentiev to mathematics. He taught at Kazan University, worked as a laboratory assistant in the Mechanical Cabinet.
In 1921, together with his family, he moved to Moscow and transferred to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, in 1922 he graduated from Moscow State University.
Still a student in 1921 Lavrentiev began teaching at the Moscow Higher Technical School (now MSTU named after N.E. Bauman), continued teaching until 1929.
In Moscow Lavrentiev entered "Lusitania" - this was the name of the mathematical school created around 1914 by the outstanding Russian mathematician N.N. Luzin's scientific interests were related to set theory and the theory of functions, which were being intensively developed at that time. A characteristic feature of Luzin as a scientist and educator was the collective form of research, contributing to the formulation of fundamentally new tasks and finding new approaches to old problems. A galaxy of outstanding Russian mathematicians came out of the school (I.I. Privalov, V.V. Stepanov, P.S. Aleksandrov, M.Ya. Suslin, D.E. Menshov, A.Ya. Khinchin, S.S. P.S. Uryson, V.N. Veniaminov, A.N. Kolmogorov, V.V. Nemytsky, L.V. Keldysh (elder sister of M.V. Keldysh), P.S. Novikov, N.K. Bari and others), including Lavrentiev. In 1923-1926, he was Luzin's post-graduate student and was engaged in research on set theory, topology (the science of the general properties of mathematical spaces that are preserved under continuous transformations), and differential equations. The first published work (in French) "Contribution a la theorie des ensembles homeomorphes" (On the study of homeomorphic sets) appeared in France, 1924. The next seven of his works, completed in the period 1924-1927, were also published in French in the Western European (mainly French) scientific publications - a common practice of Soviet scientists at that time. Since 1928 he has been published mainly in domestic editions.
In 1927 he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences and was sent to France for six months for scientific improvement. Communication with prominent French mathematicians Denjoy, Hadamard, Montel, lectures by Goursat, Borel and Julia, participation in seminars on the theory of functions became a good school for him.
Upon his return to Moscow (end of 1927) he was elected assistant professor at Moscow State University and a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. He began to read a course on the theory of conformal mappings (space transformations that preserve the magnitude of angles) at Moscow State University. From 1927, he took up the problem of approximating functions of a complex variable (by simpler functions - polynomials), which is important for applications, and the beginning of his research on the theory of quasi-conformal (close to conformal) mappings dates back to the same time, which was explained by the urgent needs of aerodynamics of increased velocities: a model of an incompressible fluid, used at low flight speeds is no longer valid.
In 1928, as a member of the Soviet delegation, he participated in the International Mathematical Congress in Bologna (Italy) with a report on quasiconformal mappings.
Since 1929 he became the head of the department and received the title of professor at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. In the same year, he began working as a senior engineer at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI). He was attracted here by the head of the theoretical department of TsAGI, S.A. Chaplygin. These were the years of the rapid development of aircraft construction and the formation of the theory of flight, research on the aerodynamics of wings, which affected the further topics of research work. Lavrentiev. It was from this period, which lasted six years, that his activity began directly in the field of applied mathematics. He attracted his students to TsAGI, and then his colleagues M.V. Keldysh and L.I. Sedov. In the circle of interests Lavrentiev and his groups included such sections of hydro-aerodynamics as the theory of an oscillating wing, the movement of a wing under the surface of a heavy liquid, the impact of a solid body on water, the construction of a flow around an arc of a given shape, and a number of others. The results obtained were subsequently used, in particular, in solving the flutter problem. A general method was found for solving the problem of flow around thin airfoils of arbitrary shape; it is shown that the wing in the form of an arc of a circle has the greatest lifting force. Applied problems stimulated further research on the theory of variational principles of conformal mappings. In 1935 Lavrentiev published (partially in co-authorship) 16 articles and abstracts, a monograph in 2 volumes, a training course program.
In 1931 he became a professor at Moscow State University, linking his life with the university for many years.
Without defending a dissertation (based on the totality of scientific papers) Lavrentiev in 1934 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences, and in 1935 - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. At the same time he became a senior researcher at the Mathematical Institute. V.A.Steklov of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where he worked for more than 25 years. Influence Lavrentiev on this scientific institution and is now palpable. Since 1934, he headed the department of the theory of functions and educated a large number of students who later became outstanding scientists, among them Academician A.Yu. Ishlinsky, Academician of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences A.I. Bitsadze. By the mid 1930s Lavrentiev became the generally recognized head of the Soviet school of the theory of functions of a complex variable.
In 1939 he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (AN Ukrainian SSR) and director of the Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and moved to Kyiv. Here he studied the theory of functions of a complex variable and its applications. In Ukraine, studies were also started Lavrentiev associated with the mechanics of the explosion, a scientific school was created. He taught at Kiev University, professor (1939-1941 and 1945-1949), from 1941 to 1945 - head of the Mathematical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
During the Second World War, together with the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR Lavrentiev was evacuated to the Urals in Ufa. Continued research in the field of explosions. Assuming that at high temperatures materials behave like viscous liquids, he developed a hydrodynamic theory of cumulation (the cumulative effect is an increase in the penetration ability of a projectile discovered in the second half of the 19th century with its special device, such that when a projectile collides with an obstacle, a high-velocity (cumulative ) a jet of powder gases and products of the melt of the metal shell, burning through the barrier). The results of the research, including the most important one - the depth of penetration of the jet into the barrier, are given in the article "Shape charge and principles of its operation", 1957. He successfully solved a number of military engineering problems, participated in the creation of a domestic cumulative projectile. When studying the features of cumulation, the phenomenon of explosion welding of metals was discovered, which was widely used in the future.
Attention Lavrentiev also attracted the theory of long waves on the surface of a liquid under the action of gravity. The obtained first proof of the existence of an exact solution of the soliton (solitary surface wave) propagation equations is given in the article "On the theory of long waves", 1943, then in the article "Before the theory of long waves" (in Ukrainian), 1947.
In February 1945 he returned from evacuation to Kyiv, became vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. He remained in this post until 1948.
In 1946 he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. For research in the field of the theory of functions of a complex variable and the creation of the theory of quasi-conformal mappings, he was awarded the Stalin (State) Prize. In 1949 he was awarded the second Stalin Prize for his theory of cumulative jets.
In connection with the problem of flooding captured sea vessels, he studied the effect of an underwater explosion. He conducted an experimental verification of the theory developed by him at the academic base of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the suburb of Kyiv Feofaniya. The formation of cumulative jets was found, which are formed when a cavity in the water collapses from the products of the explosion. He published the work "Experience in calculating the influence of the depth of immersion of a bomb in a liquid on its destructive force", 1946. The idea of using cord charges based on "wet powder" dates back to the same period, which turned out to be a suitable tool for laying trenches, for cutting metals, organizing directed explosions, etc.
Since 1948 he has been working at Moscow State University again. During this period, a new higher educational institution was created on the basis of Moscow State University - the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), which played an important role in the training of highly qualified personnel for new branches of science and technology that arose in the postwar years. In this institute Lavrentiev founded a specialization in the theory of explosions, headed the department of physics of fast processes (1955-1958). Engaged in directed explosions. The results are presented in the work "On the directed throwing of soil with the help of an explosive", 1960.
Investigated equations of mixed type describing gas flows in the areas of transition through the speed of sound, suggested using a model linear equation of mixed type instead of the well-known Tricomi equation. In 1950 he published an article (co-authored with A.V. Bitsadze) "On the problem of equations of mixed type."
In 1947, at a session of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, he made a report entitled "Ways for the Development of Soviet Mathematics" (published in 1948). Particular attention was paid to computational mathematics and engineering. He called for the speedy creation of an institute of computer technology.
In 1950 he was elected director of the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering (established in 1948 in Moscow), whose chief designer was S.A. Lebedev, a specialist in electrical engineering and computer technology, later an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the Institute, the first samples of Soviet electronic calculating machines, the founders of domestic computer technology, are being created in the shortest possible time. He headed this institute until 1953.
From 1951 to 1953 he was Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, he attached great importance to this activity, paid exceptional attention to the development of the main directions of the then science, its specific connection with practice.
From 1953 to 1955 he worked together with the head of the Soviet nuclear project, Academician I.V. Kurchatov, was the deputy chief designer of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building. In 1958 he was one of the first to receive the Lenin Prize (on special topics).
In 1955 he was elected a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, from 1955 to 1957 again - Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
In 1957, together with academicians S.A. Khristianovich and S.L. Sobolev, he put forward the idea of creating scientific complexes in Siberia, in places of especially intensive development of industry and agriculture. This idea was supported by a number of prominent scientists. On May 18, 1957, a government decision was made to establish the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and Lavrentiev. He headed the Siberian Branch until 1975 (then he was Honorary Chairman). The Siberian branch has become widely known throughout the world, has proven itself not only by a series of fundamental developments, but also by applying them to the most vital tasks of developing Siberia, the Far East and the European part of the country.
The Institute of Hydrodynamics (now named after M.A. Lavrentiev, ISIL), the organizer and director of which was Lavrentiev. He owns the choice of the organizational structure of the institute, its scientific problems, giving them the character of both search and applied, determining the appropriate combination of fundamental research with national economic tasks. He headed the Institute until 1976.
Supported by Lavrentiev B.V.Voitsekhovsky, V.V.Mitrofanov, M.E.Topchiyan and others at the Institute developed the theory of spin detonation (when propagating in a round tube, the detonation wave front of this kind describes a helical line on the tube walls).
In the work "On one principle of creating a traction force for movement" (together with M.M. Lavrentiev, 1962) proposed a mechanical model (a flexible rod in a channel with rigid walls) to study the movement of snakes, fish, etc. He studied the dynamics of a nuclear explosion cloud, developed the theory of self-similar motion of turbulent vortex rings. He built new models of separated flow around bodies with aft circulation zone. He was also interested in other tasks: waves on the water and dampening them with rain; the emergence and development of giant sea waves (tsunamis), the fight against forest fires, the prevention of river pollution, the ecology of construction, the advantages of various electronic computing systems, the organization of scientific research, teaching methods in higher and secondary schools, etc.
With active participation Lavrentiev Novosibirsk State University was also created (it was organized in 1958, the first academic year began in September 1959 with a lecture by Academician S.L. Sobolev). Scientific institutes of the Novosibirsk Academgorodok became the basis for student practice. He lectured at the Novosibirsk University, professor of the university 1959-1966.
In the Novosibirsk Academgorodok, first specialized physical and mathematical, and then chemical boarding schools, a club of young technicians were created. The official opening of the country's first specialized physical and mathematical boarding school (PMS) at Novosibirsk State University took place in January 1963.
Received the title of honorary citizen of Novosibirsk (1970).
From 1976 he worked again in Moscow. In 1976-1980 Chairman of the USSR National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mathematics.
He often traveled abroad, where he lectured and studied the state of mathematics and mechanics. He was elected in 1962-1966 a member, and in 1966-1970 vice-president of the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union. He was elected a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin (GDR), the Academy of Sciences of Liopoldina (GDR), the French Academy of Sciences, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, as well as a member of a number of other international and national scientific organizations.
Wrote a number of monographs and textbooks.
For outstanding services in the development of science and organization of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1967). Awarded five Orders of Lenin (1953, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1975), the Order of the October Revolution (1970), four Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1945, 1948, 1953, 1954), the Order of the Patriotic War II degree (1944), the Order of the Legion of Honor degree Commander (the highest award of France, 1971), medals.
530 works are known Lavrentiev(scientific and journalistic articles, reviews, reviews, monographs, textbooks, memoirs, etc.) Many of his students became outstanding scientists.
