NBA History of Science Seminar

Yuri Demkov, "V.A.Fock and his role in the development of theoretical physics in the twentieth century."

Yuri Demkov, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Leningrad University

Short biography. Fock's teachers. Immediate reaction to Schrödinger series. Göttingen work with Born. Klein-Fock-Gordon equation. Self-consistent field. Second quantisation. Hidden symmetry of hydrogen atom. QED-papers. Gravitation. Propagation of radio waves.

Discussions with Bohr in the 1960s. Foundations of quantum theory and gravitational theory. Relations with Landau. Family. Personal reminiscences.

Biography:
Born in 1926, Demkov was a student of Professor Fock, working with him for 25 years from 1949 until Fock's death in 1974, when Demkov succeeded Fock as professor at Leningrad University. Demkov's main areas of interest are theoretical atomic physics and atomic collisions.