Fock, Vladimir Aleksandrovich

Fock, Vladimir Aleksandrovich

▪ Russian mathematical physicist
born Dec. 22 [Dec. 10, Old Style], 1898, St. Petersburg, Russia
died Dec. 27, 1974, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R. [now St. Petersburg, Russia]

      Russian mathematical physicist who made seminal contributions to quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity (relativity).

      Fock became progressively deaf at a young age because of injuries sustained during military service in World War I. In 1922 he graduated from Petrograd University ( Saint Petersburg State University), and he taught there from 1924, becoming a professor in 1932. The Hartree-Fock equation, improved by him in 1930, became a basic approximation method for calculations involving multielectron atoms (atom) in quantum chemistry. He also introduced the Fock representation (1928) for a quantum oscillator, particularly important in quantum field theory; the Fock space with varying dimensions (1932) to legitimize the second quantization (many-body formalism); and the method of Fock functionals (1934) for treating systems with an indeterminate number of particles in quantum electrodynamics. In 1926 Fock and several other physicists independently proposed a relativistic generalization of the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (Schrödinger, Erwin)'s wave equation (Schrödinger equation).

      Fock was arrested on phony political charges in 1937, during the Great Purge (purge trials), but he was quickly released thanks to the Russian physicist Pyotr Kapitsa (Kapitsa, Pyotr Leonidovich), who appealed directly to Joseph Stalin (Stalin, Joseph). In 1939 Fock solved the problem of the motion of ponderable bodies (objects with appreciable mass) in Albert Einstein (Einstein, Albert)'s general relativity by using harmonic coordinates. In 1939 Fock was elected a full member of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences (Sciences, Academy of) (he had been a corresponding member since 1932). Fock also developed philosophical interpretations of relativity and quantum mechanics that he considered consistent with Marxism.

Alexei Kojevnikov
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock — Wladimir Alexandrowitsch Fock. Wladimir Alexandrowitsch Fock (auch Fok, russisch Владимир Александрович Фок, wiss. Transliteration Vladimir Alexandrovič Fok; * 10.jul./ 22. Dezember 1898greg …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Vladimir Fock — en 1969 Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock (ou Fok, Владимир Александрович Фок), né et mort à Saint Pétersbourg (22 décembre 1898 27 décembre 1974), est un physicien théoricien russo soviétique. Éléments biographiques En 1922, il obtient une maîtrise à …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Vladimir Fock — Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock (or Fok, ru. Владимир Александрович Фoк) (December 22 1898 ndash;December 27 1974) was a Soviet physicist, who did foundational work on quantum mechanics. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1922 he graduated… …   Wikipedia

  • Vladímir Fok — Vladímir Fok. Vladímir Aleksándrovich Fok o Fock (en ruso: Владимир Александрович Фoк) (22 de diciembre de 1898 – 27 de diciembre de 1974) fue un físico soviético que hizo importantes contribuciones en mecánica cuántica y en teoría cuántica de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Wladimir Alexandrowitsch Fock — Wladimir Alexandrowitsch Fock. Wladimir Alexandrowitsch Fock (auch Fok, russisch Владимир Александрович Фок, wiss. Transliteration Vladimir Alexandrovič Fok; * 10.jul./ 22. Dezember  …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hartree-Fock — In computational physics and computational chemistry, the Hartree Fock (HF) method is an approximate method for the determination of the ground state wavefunction and ground state energy of a quantum many body system.The Hartree Fock method… …   Wikipedia

  • Kapitsa, Pyotr Leonidovich — ▪ Soviet physicist also spelled  Kapitza  born June 26 [July 8, New Style], 1894, Kronshtadt, Russian Empire died April 8, 1984, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.       Soviet physicist who invented new machines for liquefaction of gases and in 1937… …   Universalium

  • List of Russians — This is a list of people associated with Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and Russia of today. For a long time Russia has been a multinational country, and many people of different ethnicity contributed to its culture, to its glory, and to its… …   Wikipedia

  • Meanings of minor planet names: 10001–11000 — As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU s Minor Planet Center, and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU s naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets …   Wikipedia

  • Contributors to general relativity — General relativity Introduction Mathematical formulation Resources Fundamental concepts …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”