Artem Isahaki (Isaakovich) Alikhanian (June 24, 1908, Tiflis - 1978) was a Soviet Armenian physicist, academic of USSR Science Academy, one of the founders and first director of the Yerevan Physics Institute, a correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1946), academic of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. USSR State Prizes (1941, 1948), Lenin Prize (1970). Hi is known as the "father of Armenian physics. With Pyotr Kapitsa, Lev Landau, Igor Kurchatov, Abraham Alikhanov and others, he laid the foundations of nuclear physics in Soviet Union.

Biography

In 1930, before he has graduated from Leningrad State University, he became a staff-member at Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute working together with his brother Abraham Alikhanov. For their investigations both brothers were awarded the USSR State Prize. In 1942 they initiated a scientific mission on Mt. Aragats in order to search for the third (proton) component of cosmic rays, found so called narrow showers in cosmic rays, established the first evidence of the existence in cosmic rays of the particles with masses between that of muon and proton. In 1948 A. Alikhanov and A. Alikhanian again were awarded the USSR State Prize for the investigation of cosmic rays. After they founded a cosmic ray station on Aragats at 3250 m, in 1943 two brothers participated in the foundation of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, established the Yerevan Physics Institute. A. Alikhanian became its Director for the next 30 years. In 1956 A. Alikhanian, A. Alikhanov and Viktor Hambartsumian initiated the creation of the Yerevan Synchrotron with 6 GeV energy of electrons. For the works on wide-gap track spark chambers in 1970 A.Alikhanian together with the colleagues was awarded the Lenin Prize. Later he initiated the works on x-ray transition radiation detectors.

Works

Alikhanyan's works are dedicated to nuclear physics, cosmic rays and elementary particle physics, accelerator physics and technology. Among with his co-workers- Alikhanov, Lev Artsimovich and others, he:

• discovered the production of electron-positron pairs by internal energy conversion (1934),
• experimentally confirmed energy conversation in positron annihilation (1936),
• conducted precision measurements on the data spectra of a large number of radioactive elements and discovered the dependence of spectral shape on the atomic number,
• proposed the experimenttal method to prove the existence of neutrinos through nuclear recoil in electron capture in 7Be,
• discovered streams of fast protons in the cosmic rays, the intense productions of protons by fast neutrons, the so-called narrow shower, and the first hints of particles with masses ranging between those of the muon and the proton,
• contributed to the development of methods for the detection of high-energy particles, in particular the Alikhanian-Alikhanov mass spectrometer, wide-gap spark chambers, and X-ray transition radiation detectors.

He led the construction of 6 GeV Armenian electron synchrotron (Yerevan). From 1961 to 1975 he organized the International Schools of High Energy Physics at Nor-Amberd.

Personality

Alikhanian was also known as a kind personality, his "great erudition captivated everyone. He was in good relations with academicians Viktor Ambartsumian and Lev Landau, composer Dmitry Shostakovich, writer Marietta Shaginyan, sculptor Arto Chakhmakhchian, painters Harutyun Galents and Minas Avetisyan. He resigned from his position at YerPhI in 1973 and left Yerevan, after some attacks possiblly organized by KGB.

Sources

• 100-th Anniversary Of Artem Alikhanian, 1908 - 2008, YerPHI official site
• Alikhanian in Great Soviet Encyclopedia

References