Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev discoveries. Petr Nikolaevich Lebedev - the most famous scientists of Russia

Lebedev Petr Nikolaevich Lebedev Pyotr Nikolaevich

(1866-1912), physicist, creator of the first Russian scientific school physicists. Professor at Moscow University (1900-11), resigned in protest against the harassment of students. First received (1895) and investigated millimeter electromagnetic waves. Discovered and measured the pressure of light on solid bodies(1899) and gases (1907), quantitatively confirming the electromagnetic theory of light. The name of Lebedev is Physics Institute RAN.

LEBEDEV Petr Nikolaevich

LEBEDEV Petr Nikolaevich (1866-1912), Russian physicist, founder of the first Russian scientific school of physicists. Professor at Moscow University (1900-11), resigned in protest against the harassment of students. First received (1895) and investigated millimeter electromagnetic waves. He discovered and measured the pressure of light on solids (1900) and gases (1908), quantitatively confirming the electromagnetic theory of light. Lebedev's name is borne by the Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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LEBEDEV Petr Nikolaevich, Russian experimental physicist, the first to confirm the presence of light pressure in experiment, the creator of the first Russian school of physicists.
Years of study
Lebedev was born in merchant family. Interested in physics at youth, but since access to the university was closed for him, as a graduate of a real school, he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School. Subsequently, Lebedev said that familiarity with technology turned out to be very useful to him in the design of experimental installations.
In 1887, without graduating from the Technical School, Lebedev went to Germany, to the laboratory of the famous German physicist A. Kundt (cm. KUNDT August Adolf Eduard Eberhard), for whom he worked first in Strasbourg (1887-88), and then in Berlin (1889-90). In 1891, having written his dissertation "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics Mossoti - Clausius", he passed the exam for the first degree.
Return to Russia
Upon his return to Russia in 1891, Lebedev received an assistant position in the laboratory of Professor A. G. Stoletov at Moscow University (cm. STOLETOV Alexander Grigorievich). The cycle of works performed by Kundt was included in the master's thesis presented by Lebedev in 1899 "On the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators", which was so highly appreciated that Lebedev was immediately awarded the degree of Doctor of Physics. In 1900 he was approved as a professor at Moscow University, where he organized a laboratory. Not without some opposition from certain colleagues, Lebedev began to actively carry out experimental work. By this time, he had already gained fame and experience as one of the first researchers who relied on the theory of J.K. Maxwell (cm. MAXWELL James Clerk). Back in 1895, Lebedev created the finest installation for generating and receiving electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 6 and 4 mm, investigated the reflection, refraction, polarization, interference of these waves and other phenomena.
light pressure
In 1900, Lebedev, with the help of virtuoso, although performed by modest means, experiments confirmed Maxwell's theoretical prediction about the pressure of light on solids, and in 1908 on gases. It came milestone in the science of electromagnetic phenomena. To the famous English physicist W. Thomson (cm. Thomson William) the words belong: "All my life I fought with Maxwell, did not recognize his light pressure, and now ... Lebedev forced me to surrender before his experiments."
Lebedev also studied the action electromagnetic waves on resonators and put forward in connection with these studies profound considerations concerning intermolecular interactions, dealt with acoustics, in particular, hydroacoustics. The study of the pressure of light on gases prompted Lebedev to become interested in the origin of comet tails.
The first scientific physics school in Russia
Not limited to research activities, Lebedev devoted much effort to the creation of a scientific physical school, which, in essence, was the first in Russia. By 1905, his laboratory already included about twenty young scientists who were destined to play a prominent role in the development of physics in Russia. Lebedev's assistant and closest assistant was P.P. Lazarev (cm. LAZAREV Petr Petrovich), who, after the death of his teacher, became the head of the laboratory, and in 1916 - the director of the first Scientific Research Institute of Physics in Moscow, from which S. I. Vavilov left (cm. VAVILOV Sergey Ivanovich), G. A. Gamburtsev (cm. GAMBURTSEV Grigory Alexandrovich), A. L. Mints (cm. MINTS Alexander Lvovich), P. A. Rebinder (cm. REBINDER Petr Alexandrovich), V. V. Shuleikin (cm. Shuleykin Vasily Vladimirovich), E. V. Shpolsky (cm. SHPOLSKY Eduard Vladimirovich) other. Physical Institute named after P. N. Lebedev Russian Academy Sciences in Moscow.
Latest experiments
Lebedev's experiments required the use of carefully thought-out, sometimes quite complex "mechanics". This sometimes gave rise to ridiculous reproaches that Lebedev "reduced science to the level of technology." However, Lebedev himself considered the issue of the connection between science and technology very important.
The last cycle of Lebedev's studies is still underestimated. These studies were designed to test the hypothesis English physics Sutherland regarding the redistribution of charges in conductors under the influence of gravity. In celestial bodies, planets and stars, according to Sutherland, electrons are “squeezed out” from the inner regions (where pressures are high) to the surface, due to which the inner regions are positively charged, and the surface of the bodies is negatively charged. The rotation of bodies, together with the charges redistributed in them, should generate magnetic fields. Thus, it was proposed physical explanation origin of the magnetic fields of the Sun, Earth and other celestial bodies.
Sutherland's hypothesis was not at that time reliable. theoretical substantiation, and therefore the experiment conceived by Lebedev to test it acquired special importance. Realizing that centrifugal forces, as well as gravitational ones, should cause a redistribution of charges, Lebedev put forward a simple but very ingenious idea: if Sutherland's hypothesis is correct, then a magnetic field should arise during the rapid rotation of electrically neutral bodies. It is precisely this "magnetization by rotation" that experiment was supposed to reveal.
The work took place in a very difficult conditions. In 1911, in protest against the reactionary actions of the Minister of Education L. A. Kasso (cm. KASSO Lev Aristidovich) Lebedev, along with other progressive teachers, decides to leave Moscow University. As a result, a very delicate experiment, which he conducted in the basement of the Faculty of Physics, was crumpled. The desired effect was not found. The reason for the failure was not the lack of effect, but the insufficient sensitivity of the installation: the estimates for magnetic fields that Lebedev was guided by and based on the work of Sutherland turned out to be significantly overestimated. Lebedev created a new physics laboratory at Shanyavsky University with private funds, but did not have time to continue his research. Lebedev suffered from heart disease and once, while still relatively young, experienced clinical death: the heart suddenly stopped when he was rowing a boat, but then managed to bring him back to life. He lived only 48 years.


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Books

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February 24, 1866 - March 01, 1912

outstanding Russian experimental physicist, the first to confirm Maxwell's conclusion about the presence of light pressure, the founder of the first scientific physics school in Russia, professor at Moscow University

Founder of the first scientific physical school in Russia, professor at Moscow University (1900-1911). He was dismissed as a result of the actions of the Minister of Education, known as the Casso affair.

Biography

Born in Moscow on March 8, 1866. In his youth, he became interested in physics, but access to the university for him, a graduate of a real school, was closed, so he entered the Imperial Moscow Technical School. Subsequently, P. N. Lebedev said that familiarity with technology turned out to be very useful to him in the design of experimental facilities.

Education

In 1887, without graduating from IMTU, Lebedev went to Germany, to the laboratory of the famous physicist August Kundt, for whom he worked first in Strasbourg and then in Berlin. In 1891 he wrote a dissertation "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics Mossotti - Clausius" and passed the exam for the first degree. Upon his return to Russia, in 1892, at Moscow University, he received an assistant position in the laboratory of Professor A. G. Stoletov.

The cycle of works performed by Kundt was included in the master's thesis presented by Lebedev in 1900 "On the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators", for which he was immediately (an exceptional case!) awarded the degree of Doctor of Physics. Soon he was approved as a professor at Moscow University.

Scientific activity

Not without some opposition from some of his colleagues, Lebedev began to actively carry out experimental work. By that time, he had already gained fame and experience as one of the first researchers based on Maxwell's theory. Back in 1895, he created an installation for generating and receiving electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 6 mm and 4 mm, studied reflection, refraction, polarization, interference, etc.

In 1899, P. N. Lebedev, with the help of virtuoso, although performed by modest means, experiments confirmed Maxwell's theoretical prediction about the pressure of light on solids, and in 1907 - on gases (the discovery of the effect of light pressure). This study was an important milestone in the science of electromagnetic phenomena. One of the prominent physicists of that time, William Thomson, said: “All my life I fought with Maxwell, not recognizing his light pressure, and now< … >Lebedev made me give up before his experiments.

P. N. Lebedev also dealt with the action of electromagnetic waves on resonators and, in connection with these studies, put forward profound considerations concerning intermolecular interactions, paid attention to acoustics, in particular hydroacoustics.

The study of the pressure of light on gases prompted Lebedev to become interested in the origin of comet tails.

Not limited to research activities, P. N. Lebedev devotes much effort to the creation of a scientific school, which in essence was the first in Russia and the emergence of which continues to be felt to this day. By 1905, about twenty of his young students were already working in the laboratory, who were destined to later play a prominent role in the development of physics in Russia. Of these, it is appropriate to name first

Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev (1866-1912)

Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev entered the history of world science as the most skillful experimenter-physicist, who first discovered and measured the pressure of light. P. N. Lebedev, along with M. V. Lomonosov, is one of the remarkable figures in the history of Russian physics. He was the first organizer of the collective scientific work in the field of physics and large research laboratories that have become a model for scientific institutes these days.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev was born on March 8, 1866 in Moscow, into a cultural merchant family. After studying at a real school, P. N. Lebedev entered the Moscow Technical School. However, he was attracted by difficult fundamental questions that went far beyond the curriculum of the courses he was studying. In the archives of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, large notebooks of the young man Lebedev are stored, revealing his extraordinary inventive wit, knowledge, and at the same time, special seriousness and concentration. Without graduating from the Technical School, P. N. Lebedev went abroad in 1887, to the University of Strasbourg, to study physics.

Here he worked for the famous experimental physicist August Kundt. Subsequently, P. N. Lebedev wrote a wonderful obituary to the memory of Kundt, containing his detailed and touching description. “Possessing a remarkable physical instinct,” writes Lebedev, “physikalische Nase,” as he himself called his talent, Kundt guessed the connection between separate, heterogeneous phenomena, and also grasped the essence mathematically with amazing clarity. developed theory and he always knew how to pose such a question point-blank that, being the most daring consequence of the theory, would be accessible to direct experimental research. ”This characterization of Kundt can be fully applied to P. N. Lebedev himself.

Kundt did not stay long in Strasbourg. In 1888 he received a chair in Berlin, and P. N. Lebedev followed him. Here, in addition to classes with Kundt, PN Lebedev listened to Helmholtz's theoretical lectures.

Studying in childhood in a real school, P. N. Lebedev did not study Latin. Therefore, he was unable to pass the doctoral examination in Berlin, where knowledge of ancient languages ​​was essential. I had to return to Strasbourg - Latin was not required there. In Strasbourg, P. N. Lebedev quickly completed an experimental dissertation, passed the exams and received a Ph.D. P. N. Lebedev's dissertation was entitled "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of Mossotti-Clausius dielectrics." This excellent work, presented in 1891, was at one time done to test the consequences of the phenomenological theory of dielectrics, but it has retained its interest even now in connection with the more specific structural and molecular concepts of our time.

From the surviving letters of P. N. Lebedev, relating to this period of life, it is clear that he then wrote a lot and thought about even more, in addition to his doctoral work. By 1890, he was engaged in the theory of comet tails. These studies became the beginning of the main work of his life - research on light pressure.

Even Seneca knew that comet tails deviate from the Sun. Kepler, Newton and others suggested that the mechanical pressure of light could be the cause of this deflection. In the XVIII century. they tried to discover it experimentally and, indeed, found it. It turned out, however, that the observed phenomena are caused by secondary thermal processes and have nothing in common with light pressure.

There were too many reasons competing in any experiment with light pressure; on the other hand, there were no ideas about the theoretical value of the possible pressure of light. AT late XVIII in. physicist and astronomer Haratsaker pointed out, for example, that, according to travelers, Sun rays their pressure slows down the movement of the Danube. For the first time, Maxwell, on the basis of his electromagnetic theory of light, calculated the theoretical value of light pressure, which, for the case of light falling on a completely absorbing surface, is equal to the division of the light energy coming per second by the speed of light. For sunlight falling on earth's surface, this pressure is approximately equal to five hundred millionths of a gram per square centimeter. Later it turned out that any wave theory of light leads to the same value for light pressure as Maxwell's theory, while the corpuscular concept gives a value twice as large. Thus, the problem of light pressure has been at least three centuries old; such physicists and astronomers as Kepler, Newton, Euler, Fresnel, Maxwell, Boltzmann were engaged in it. It was of fundamental importance for science, and yet until the end of the 19th century. remained unresolved.

PN Lebedev undertook this most difficult task. In 1891, his note "On the repulsive force of radiating bodies" appeared. In it, based on known data on solar radiation, P. N. Lebedev proves that in the case of very small particles, the repulsive force of light pressure must exceed Newtonian attraction, and thus the deflection of cometary tails can indeed be explained by light pressure. At the end of his note, P. N. Lebedev notes that his calculations are not quantitatively applicable to molecules, but qualitatively they do not lose their strength.

P. N. Lebedev was right when, excited by his thoughts, he wrote in a private letter: “I seem to have done very important discovery in the theory of the motion of luminaries, especially comets. "In modern astrophysics, the enormous role of light pressure as space factor, along with Newtonian attraction, becomes apparent. For the first time, a physically justified indication of this was made by P. N. Lebedev.

Having set as his task the clarification of the question of the mechanical forces arising between the radiating and absorbing molecule, P. N. Lebedev returned, full of plans, to Moscow in 1891.

He received a position as an assistant at the Moscow University at the department of Professor A. G. Stoletov and, in very difficult conditions, arranged his laboratory, remaining cheerful and full of creative energy.

Three years later, in 1894, the first part of his great job, which later served as a doctoral dissertation "Experimental study of the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators". In view of the exceptional quality of his work, P. N. Lebedev was awarded the degree of doctor without preliminary defense of his master's thesis and the corresponding examinations, a very rare case in the practice of universities. The first part of this work is devoted to the experimental study of the interactions electromagnetic resonators, the second - to hydrodynamic resonators (oscillating balls in a liquid), the third - to acoustic ones. Experience (in agreement with theory) showed the identity of these different cases. From the experimental side, the work was a model of thoroughness, wit and, if I may say so, the jewelry skill of P. N. Lebedev. "The main interest in studying the ponderomotive action of undulating motion," the author wrote, "lies in the fundamental possibility of extending the found laws to the region of light and thermal emission of individual molecules of bodies and precalculating the resulting intermolecular forces and their magnitude."

The work was completed in 1897. Wave pressure was studied on models. This was the second stage of the main case of P. N. Lebedev. The third, most important stage lay ahead - an attempt to overcome the difficulties encountered over the centuries by many unsuccessful predecessors of P. N. Lebedev, and to detect and measure the pressure of light in the laboratory.

In 1900, this stage also ends with complete success. The light pressure has been found. P. N. Lebedev succeeded in separating from it the interfering, so-called radiometric, forces and convection flows and measuring it. In appearance, the device of P. N. Lebedev was simple. The light from the voltaic arc fell on a light wing suspended on a thin thread in a glass container, from which the air was pumped out, and the light pressure could be judged from the twisting of the thread. In fact, this simplicity concealed innumerable difficulties that had been overcome. The wing actually consisted of two pairs of thin platinum circles. One of the circles of each pair was shiny on both sides, the other two had one side covered with platinum black. At the same time, both pairs of circles differed in thickness. In order to exclude gas convection (movement) that occurs when the temperatures of the winglet and the glass container differ (the temperature difference arose when light was absorbed by the winglet), the light was directed first to one side of the winglet, then to the other. Since the convection is the same in both cases, the difference in deviations obtained does not depend on the convection. First of all, the radiometric forces were weakened as much as possible (by increasing the volume of the balloon and decreasing the pressure). In addition, the radiometric effect could be taken into account by comparing the result of light falling on a thick and thin blackened circle. P. N. Lebedev rightly and proudly could finish his message a short phrase: "Thus, the existence of Maxwell-Bartoli pressure forces has been experimentally established for light rays."

The experiments of P. N. Lebedev brought him world fame and forever inscribed his name in the history of experimental physics. In Russia, he received a prize from the Academy of Sciences for these experiments and was then elected a corresponding member of the Academy. About the impression that the experiments of P. N. Lebedev made on the scientific world, say, for example, the words of the famous English physicist Lord Kelvin, said to the famous Russian scientist K. A. Timiryazev: "You may know that I fought all my life with Maxwell, not recognizing his light pressure, and now your Lebedev made me give up before his experiments.

However, P. N. Lebedev did not consider the task finished. For space phenomena Of primary importance is not the pressure on solids, but the pressure on rarefied gases consisting of isolated molecules. Meanwhile, in relation to the structure of molecules and their optical properties in the first decade of our century, there were still many ambiguities. It was not clear how one could go from pressure on individual molecules to pressure on the body as a whole. The theoretical state of the matter at that time, in short, was such that experimental intervention was required.

The experimental problem facing P. N. Lebedev was this time even more difficult than the previous one, and attempts to solve it lasted ten years. But this time, too, the experimental art of P. N. Lebedev overcame all difficulties. In a miniature device by P. N. Lebedev, gas under the pressure of absorbed light received rotary motion, transmitted to a small piston, the deviation of which could be measured by the displacement of the mirror "bunny". The most important difficulty of the experiment - the elimination of the inevitable gas convection in the device - was overcome by P. N. Lebedev by the ingenious method of mixing hydrogen into the gas under study. Unlike other gases, hydrogen is a good conductor of heat, quickly equalizing temperature inhomogeneities in the vessel. This move turned out to be decisive. The new experiments of P. N. Lebedev, published in 1910, were greeted with enthusiasm by the world physical community. The British Royal Institution elected P. N. Lebedev as its honorary member. The brilliant experimental physicist V. Vin, in a letter to the Russian physicist V. A. Mikhelson, wrote that P. N. Lebedev mastered "the art of experimentation to such an extent as hardly anyone else in our time."

This was the end of the amazing series of works by PN Lebedev on light pressure. She was interrupted by his untimely death. The answer to the question of light pressure, however, has not yet been completed. Remained experimentally unexplored special cases of pressure elliptically polarized light, and most importantly, it has not yet been possible to experimentally detect the nature of the light pressure on an individual particle of matter. This was done much later by A. Compton, who observed the elementary effect of light pressure and the scattering of X-rays and gamma rays by electrons in a cloud chamber. Elementary light pressure turned out to be quantum, having a discontinuous character. The light pressure measured by P. N. Lebedev was average statistical value pressures in the set elementary processes. P. N. Lebedev did not have to take part in the disclosure of the statistical nature of the phenomenon, the masterful study of which he devoted his life to.

The number of other works by P. N. Lebedev is small. But each of them is important and has retained its significance even now. In the first years in Moscow, he again carried out a study “On the double refraction of rays of electric force”, amazing in terms of mastery of experience, experimenting with electromagnetic waves 6 millimeters long, a miniature “nicol” and a “quarter-wave plate” from crystalline sulfur. In 1902 he published a short but very important physical measurements and technique article "Thermoelements in vacuum as a device for measuring radiant energy". The principle of a thermoelement in vacuum, put forward by P. N. Lebedev, is currently widely used, in particular, in military equipment. In connection with one of the hypotheses about the nature of terrestrial magnetism, P. N. Lebedev modified Gilbert's experiment, which was aimed at an attempt to excite an electric current in a conductor as it moved through the ether. Proceeding from the assumption of the motion of the Earth in a motionless ether, P. N. Lebedev decided to take advantage of this motion; he staged the experiment, as usual, with the utmost care, but received negative result. True, this experiment did not so much disprove the Rowland-Gilbert hypothesis as the assumption of a motionless ether.

The last, dying, experimental work of P. N. Lebedev also concerned the nature of terrestrial magnetism. He wanted to test Sutherland's hypothesis, in which magnetic action rotating Earth was explained by the displacement of opposite charges in a neutral atom. This difficult experience also gave a negative result.

While working at Moscow University, P. N. Lebedev paid the main attention to the research work of his students and staff. True, he read lectures, like other professors, even published brief summary these lectures, but in essence he had little interest in teaching work. His first lecture to beginning students always contained mainly an appeal to them to become researchers without fear of difficulties. For the first time in Russia, he ventured to organize a physical laboratory with a relatively very a large number working persons. In 1901, only three people worked for him, in 1910 the number of employees reached 28. If we take into account that all the topics of the work were given and carefully thought out (up to the drawings of instruments) by P. N. Lebedev himself, that there were no laboratory assistants , mechanics and glassblowers were themselves working, that the laboratory's facilities and equipment were extremely limited, that it was placed in a poorly comfortable basement, it will become clear that the enormous effort and energy required from P.N. Lebedev to manage this laboratory. Meanwhile, year after year, more and more often came out a number of good and excellent works, many of which felt the masterful hand of the teacher. P. N. Lebedev became the pioneer of a remarkable and completely new business for Russia - a large collective research work. Subsequently, in 1911, in a newspaper article " Russian society and Russian National Laboratories", published in Russkiye Vedomosti, P. N. Lebedev set out in some detail his point of view and arguments that speak of the benefits and necessity of creating large research laboratories. This was the first declaration of the system of organization of science, which was fully implemented only in USSR.

In 1911, in the era of the maximum flourishing of P. N. Lebedev’s activity and glory at Moscow University, as a result of the reactionary actions of the tsarist government, and in particular the then Ministry of Public Education, the most talented and liberal part of the professorship had to leave the university and seek shelter in other educational institutions or simply rely on the help of individuals. In protest against the actions of the Minister of Education L. Kasso, P. N. Lebedev also resigned, and his employees who worked in his laboratory left the university with him. A great deal was destroyed. PN Lebedev immediately received invitations from foreign scientific institutions. In particular, the director of the physicochemical laboratory of the Nobel Institute in Stockholm prof. Arrhenius wrote to him: “Naturally, it would be a great honor for the Nobel Institute if you wished to settle down and work there, and we, no doubt, would provide you with all the necessary funds so that you could continue to work ... You, of course , would receive a completely free position, as it corresponds to your rank in science. But P. N. Lebedev refused all these proposals. He remained at home and in extremely difficult conditions, at private expense, using public assistance, organized a new physical laboratory. In Dead Lane (house number 20) in Moscow, a basement was rented, where in 1911 his laboratory was located in several rooms. Here he completed his last experimental work on the magnetometric study of rotating bodies. Private donors collected funds for the construction of a new physics institute for P. N. Lebedev according to a plan drawn up by himself. This institute, however, was completed only in 1916, four years after Lebedev's death. This building currently belongs to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; it houses the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute for experimental work on the magnetometric study of rotating bodies. Private donors collected funds for the construction of a new physics institute for P. N. Lebedev according to a plan drawn up by himself. This institute, however, was completed only in 1916, four years after Lebedev's death. This building currently belongs to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; it houses the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute.

March 14, 1912 P. N. Lebedev died. He died at the age of 46 and was buried at the Alekseevsky cemetery. In 1935, in connection with the liquidation of the cemetery, the ashes of P. N. Lebedev were transferred to the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.

The whole body responded to the death of P. N. Lebedev academia. Many telegrams and letters were sent from eminent scientists, among whom were Roentgen, Nernst, Arrhenius, Thomson, Warburg, Rubens, Crookes, Curie, Rigi and others.

In the person of P. N. Lebedev, Russia lost not only a great scientist, but also a remarkable organizer of science, whose thoughts and undertakings could be fully realized only with Soviet Russia.

The main works of P. N. Lebedev: Collected works, ed. Physical society them. P. N. Lebedeva, M., 1913 [I. Scientific articles: On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and the theory of dielectrics Mossotti-Clausius (Strasbourg dissertation), 1891; On the repulsive force of radiant bodies, 1891; On the double refraction of rays of electric force, 1895; Experimental study of the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators (doctoral dissertation), 1894-1897; Experimental study of light pressure, 1901; Thermoelements in the void, as a device for measuring radiant energy, 1902; Experimental study of light on gases, 1910; Magnetometric study of rotating bodies, 1911, etc. II. Popular articles and speeches: On the motion of stars according to spectroscopic studies, 1892; August Kundt, 1894; On x-rays discovered by Roentgen, 1896; Experimental work A. G. Stoletova, 1898; Methods for obtaining high temperatures, 1899; Rock of electromagnetic waves in the ether, 1901; Advances in acoustics over the past 10 years; 1905; Russian society and Russian national laboratories, 1911; In memory of the first Russian scientist (M. V. Lomonosov), 1911; Pressure of light, 1912, etc.].

About P. N. Lebedev:Lazarev P.P., P. N. Lebedev ( biographical sketch) in "Coll. Op." Edited by P. N. Lebedeva. Moscow, 1913. His own, P. N. Lebedev and Russian physics, "Temporary Society for Promoting Success experimental sciences them. X. S. Ledentsova", v. 2; Charnovsky N. F., Characteristic features of the activities of P. N. Lebedev in the Council of the Society. X. S. Ledentsova, ibid.; Lazarev P.P., Lebedev laboratory at Shanyavsky University, ibid., 1913, c. one; Kravets T. P., P. N. Lebedev and the physical school he created, "Nature", 1913, No. 3 (there is a separate print); Zernov V.D., Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev, "Scientific Notes of Moscow University", c. LII, Physics, M., 1940; Kaptsov N. A., School of Petr Nikolaevich Lebedev, ibid.

There was a professor at Moscow University, physicist Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev (1866-1912). Like Stoletov, Lebedev fought for a materialistic worldview. He was the teacher of many physicists. Among the students of Lebedev were such prominent figures Soviet science, as academicians and P. P. Lazarev.

PN Lebedev saw science as a weapon of struggle for the good of the people.

The scientist inevitably came into open conflict with the tsarist government.

In 1911, when the autocracy announced new campaign against universities, Lebedev, in protest, left the university together with a group of advanced scientists. The famous scientist was invited to work in Stockholm, at the Nobel Institute, but, despite the most flattering conditions that he was offered, the scientist did not leave his homeland. Having created a small laboratory at private expense in the basement of one of the Moscow houses, the physicist continued his research with a group of young people.

But Lebedev's health, undermined by all the hardships, deteriorated sharply, and in March 1912 the scientist died. He was only 46 years old.

World fame Lebedev brought the discovery of the pressure of light. He set himself this task at an early age.

“The question that I have been busy with for a long time, I love with all my soul as - I imagine - parents love their children,” twenty-five-year-old Pyotr Nikolayevich Lebedev wrote to his mother in 1891.

The question that fascinated the young scientist was one of the most difficult in physics.

From the electromagnetic theory of light, it followed that the rays not only illuminate the object, but also put pressure on it. However, no one has yet been able to detect light pressure experimentally. And how tempting it was to prove the existence of this pressure! After all, this would serve as another argument in favor of the truth of the electromagnetic theory of light, the theory that both light and the waves generated by an electric vibrator - radio waves, as we now call them - are the closest relatives.

All these are electromagnetic waves, differing only in their lengths, the theory said.

And how important it was for astronomers to verify the existence of light pressure! Maybe, sunlight and there is that "wind" that deflects comet tails...

The failures of his predecessors did not frighten Lebedev. He set himself the goal of proving irrefutably, by experience, the existence of a light wind.

Lebedev did not immediately set about solving his main task. At first, he investigated the nature of waves, more powerful and larger - waves on water, sound waves, waves generated by electric vibrators. With brilliant experiments, Lebedev established the action of waves on the obstacles they encountered. His work "Experimental study of the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators", in which he combined studies of waves of various physical nature, Lebedev submitted to Moscow University for a master's degree. Academic Council University highly appreciated this work: P. N. Lebedev was immediately awarded a doctorate degree.

Being engaged in the study of electromagnetic waves, the scientist managed to get radio waves very short. The mirrors made by Lebedev for studying and reflecting these waves and the prisms of sulfur and resin for their refraction could be hidden in a vest pocket - they were so tiny. Before Lebedev, experimenters had to use prisms weighing several pounds.


Miniature "light mills" designed by P. N. Lebedev.


Scheme of the experiment of P. N. Lebedev to determine the light pressure on solids. The light of the electric arc located at point B, through a system of lenses and mirrors, falls on the wings of a miniature "mill" suspended in a vessel R, from which air is pumped out.


Scheme of the installation with which Lebedev discovered the pressure of light on gases.

Lebedev's research, remarkable for the subtlety of the experiments, had global importance. But that was only the beginning of the work. The most difficult was waiting for the scientist ahead.

The forces of light pressure are unimaginably small. Suffice it to say that the bright rays of the sun, beating into the palm, substituted in their path, put pressure on it a thousand times weaker than a mosquito sitting right there.

The difficulties did not end there. AT normal conditions light pressure is drowned out by stronger extraneous actions. Light heats the air, forming updrafts in it. Light also heats the object itself - air molecules hitting a heated surface bounce off it at a higher speed than molecules hitting an unlit side. The effect of the upward currents and recoil of molecules far exceeds the pressure of light on the object.

To measure light pressure, Lebedev designed tiny turntables, which are thin metal wings suspended on the thinnest thread. The light, falling on the wings, should have turned them. To protect his device from extraneous influences, Lebedev placed it in a glass vessel, from which he carefully pumped out the air.

Having developed an ingenious experimental technique, Lebedev completely ruled out the influence of air currents and the recoil of molecules. The light pressure that has not yet been captured by anyone in pure form visibly appeared before the magician of a physical experiment.

Lebedev's report caused a sensation at the World Congress of Physicists in 1900. William Thomson, who was present at the congress, approached KA Timiryazev after Lebedev's report. “Your Lebedev made me give up before his experiments,” said Kelvin, who fought all his life against the electromagnetic theory of light, which asserted, in particular, that light pressure exists.

After proving that light exerts pressure on solids, Lebedev set about investigating an even more difficult problem. He decided to prove that light also presses on gases.

Rays of light passing through the gas chamber designed by Lebedev made him move. They created, as it were, a draft that carried the molecules of the gas. The flow of gas deflected the thinnest piston built into the chamber. In 1910, Lebedev rightly informed the scientific world: "The existence of pressure on gases has been established empirically."

The significance of Lebedev's work was not limited to the fact that they helped to establish the electromagnetic theory of light and gave the key to unraveling many astronomical phenomena. Lebedev proved with his experiments that light manifests itself as something material, weighty, having mass.

From the data found by Lebedev, it followed that the pressure of light and, therefore, the mass of light is the greater, the brighter the light, the greater the energy it carries. An amazing connection has been established between energy and the mass of light. The discovery of the Russian physicist went far beyond the theory of light.

Principle of connection between mass and energy modern physics extended to all types of energy. This principle has now become a powerful tool in the struggle to master the energy of the atomic nucleus, the basis for calculations of atomic energy processes.

Lebedev, Petr Nikolaevich

A teacher at the Moscow Theological Seminary and a senior director of the Moscow Synodal Printing House, he was born in the Ivanovo churchyard, Volokolamsk district, and was the son of a priest. Lebedev received his initial education at the Zvenigorod Theological School and the Bethany Theological Seminary, and then at the Moscow Theological Academy, where he graduated from the course of science with a degree in theology in 1873. In the same year, Lebedev was appointed teacher of liturgy, homiletics and practical guide for the pastors of the church in the Volyn spirit. seminary. In December 1875, at the request, he was transferred to the Kaluga Seminary, and six months later - to Moscow. In the latter, he was for some time a teacher of Latin. While serving at the seminary, he was at the same time a teacher of the Russian language at the Moscow Agricultural School. At the end of 1882, after some hesitation, he accepted the position of senior director of the Moscow Synodal Printing House, continuing to be a seminary teacher until the end of the 1882-1883 academic year. But he did not have to be in this position for long: he was afflicted with an illness, which brought him prematurely to the grave on August 6, 1885.

Lebedev's literary activity is quite extensive. AT a number of Russian writers - liturgists, he took a place of honor thanks to two of his works: "The Science of Divine Service Orthodox Church"(in 2 parts. M. 1881) and" Brief teaching on the worship of the Orthodox Church "(M. 1883). Being a teacher of liturgy, Lebedev saw well the insufficiency of the seminary textbook on this subject by Father Smoladovich and set out to compile new textbook on latest research. Having put it into practice, having written "The Science of Divine Service", Lebedev submitted it in manuscript for consideration to the educational committee at the Holy Synod, where his work was duly appreciated - he was awarded half the prize of Metropolitan Macarius. The advantage of this textbook over Fr. Smoladovich presents an abundance of historical and archaeological elements, the introduction of which the author used the best works Western and Russian liturgical literature. Lebedev's second liturgical work, composed after the first, is a reduction and simplification of the first. In addition to these main works, Lebedev owns quite a few articles published in spiritual newspapers and magazines. In the "Volyn Diocesan Vedomosti" he published a number of articles: "Slavic Pilot Book and its prescriptions for kinship in relation to marriage unions" (later published in separate prints), "Antiquity of rites and sacred actions connected with the sacraments of baptism and chrismation", " On the Holy Cross" (archaeological essay), "The Right of Asylum" and "On the Places of Christian Meetings and Worship in the First Three Centuries". In Pravoslavny Obozreniye for 1887 (Nos. 11, 12) he placed an extensive article "Modern Preaching". But most of all Lebedev wrote for publications of the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment, of which he was a member. In the journal of the society "Readings" he published articles: "On the importance and significance of the publication by the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment of the first volume of the rules of the holy apostles and the holy seven ecumenical councils with interpretations "(1878) and" On the attitude of the church to folk wisdom"(1880). Peru Lebedev owns in the same journal several internal reviews on various contemporary issues concerning the clergy and spiritual and educational affairs, which are: about congresses of the clergy (1877), about charity in the spiritual and educational world (1877), about preaching (1877), about seminary student writing and its unsatisfactory state ( 1881), etc., - and several articles of bibliographic content (for example, about the book by A. von Fricken, "Roman Catacombs and Monuments of Primitive Art" (1877). Finally, Lebedev was a permanent collaborator for several years " Moscow Diocesan Vedomosti", in which for some time he led the departments of internal and foreign review, and also wrote leading articles. It is noteworthy that the listed works were written in relatively few years while performing at the same time complex and laborious duties of a teacher and his poor health.

"Moscow Church Gazette", 1885, No. 49, pp. 731-733. - "Volyn Diocesan Vedomosti", 1886, Nos. 1, 2, pp. 39-41.

(Polovtsov)

Lebedev, Petr Nikolaevich

outstanding physicist, prof. Moscow un-ta, s. merchant, r. 1866, † in March 1912.

(Vengerov)

Lebedev, Petr Nikolaevich

Rus. physicist. Born in Moscow into a merchant family. After graduating from a real school in 1884, he entered Moscow. higher tech. school, but soon came to the firm decision to become a physicist. The inability to enter the Russian. un-t due to the lack of a gymnasium. diploma forced L. to leave for Germany, where he worked in the physical. laboratories of A. Kundt, in Strasbourg. (1887-88) and Berlin. (1889-90) high fur boots, and then again in Strasbourg in the laboratory of F. Kolrausch (1890-91). Here he independently worked on the problems he had chosen, and in 1891 he defended his thesis. "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics by Mossotti-Clausius".

After returning from abroad in 1891, L. began working as an assistant to A. G. Stoletov in Moscow. university; in 1900 he was elected prof. university In un-those L. spent his main. research. Here he organized the first large (about 30 people) Russian collective in Russia. physicists who worked according to a single plan. The fruitful activity of L. within the walls of Moscow. The university continued until 1911, when he, along with many progressive scientists, left the university in protest against the reactionary actions of the Minister of Education Kasso. L. had a hard time with his forced departure, which could lead to the termination of the activity of the physical institution created by him. schools. However, he refused the invitation of S. Arrhenius to work at the Nobel Institute in Stockholm, deciding to create new laboratory in Moscow at private expense.

Already in one of the first works, "On the repulsive force of radiating bodies" (1891), L. raised the question of the universal role of mechanical. action of radiation in space. processes and molecular interactions. In this work, L. first showed that between any two bodies there must always be a force of radiant repulsion resulting from light pressure, and that this force competes with the force of Newtonian gravity. The magnitude of the force of radiative repulsion depends on the nature and temperature of the bodies and, for sufficiently small bodies, can significantly exceed the force of attraction. In the same work, he was the first to quantitatively substantiate the idea of ​​the decisive role of light pressure in the formation of cometary tails. AT next work"Experimental study of the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators", publ. for the first time in the form of three articles in 1894, 1896, and 1897 (experiments with electromagnetic, hydrodynamic, and acoustic resonators), L. established common vibrations of different physical. nature of the laws of interaction of oscillators at distances much smaller than the wavelength. It turned out that when the frequency of the vibrator is increased to the frequency of the resonator, the attraction between them increases, which is replaced by repulsion when passing through resonance, the force of which decreases with a further increase in the frequency of the vibrator. A different result was obtained when L. in experiments with acoustic. resonators placed them at a distance greater than the wavelength; at all frequency differences, only repulsive forces acted, reaching a maximum at resonance. Repulsive forces were correctly understood by L. as forces similar to light pressure. After this research, for a cut Mosk. Univ. awarded him a doctorate in 1899, bypassing the master's degree, L. began experiments to prove the existence and measure the pressure of light on solids, which failed many major scientists because of the much stronger than light pressure, radiometric. forces. The first report of a positive result of the experiments was made in 1899, and the second in Aug. 1900 (at the International Congress of Physicists in Paris). The discovery of light pressure brought L. worldwide fame. His research laid a solid experimental foundation further development electromagnetic theory of light. most important scientific result these studies is experimental proof the presence of a mechanical momentum of a light beam. The fact that the mechanical momentum is directly related to inertial mass light, a commonality was established very important properties two forms of existence of matter: matter and light. The effect of light pressure is used to visualize the relationship between mass and energy. Not considering his work completed, L. began to study the pressure on gases, which had great importance to understand space. phenomena. Experimental skill L. helped him overcome the extraordinary difficulties associated with the implementation of this work. In 1907, at the 1st Mendeleev Congress, L. made a report about his discovery of the pressure of light on gases. The final data on this work were published. in the article "The pressure force of light on gas" (1910). Modern astrophysics claims that the force of light pressure on gases determines the limiting size of stars. L. resolved many other experimental problems that arose before him in solving the main ones. For example, when performing a doctoral thesis. L. interested in the problem of obtaining and studying the properties of millimeter electromagnetic waves. The result was his remarkable article "On the double refraction of rays of electric force" (1895).

In an effort to achieve high vacuum experiments on light pressure, L. developed a technique that was later applied in the pump, which bears the name of Langmuir. In 1905-07 he participated in the international commission for the study of the Sun. In 1909-11 he tried to find out the nature of terrestrial magnetism and publ. results in the article "Magnetometric study of rotating bodies" (1911). The entire scope of this work was interrupted by death. Ideas L. found their development in the works of his many students. The name of L. named Fizich. Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

Works: Collected works, M., 1913; Selected works, M.-L., 1949.

Lit .: Fabrikant V., Works of P. N. Lebedev on light pressure. "Success physical sciences", 1950, v. 42, issue 2; Pyotr Nikolayevich Lebedev, M.-L., 1950 (bibliographic index); Pyotr Nikolayevich Lebedev. 1866-1912, M., 1950 (there is a bibliography of L.'s printed works); Arkadiev V. K., An outstanding Russian physicist (On the fortieth anniversary of the death of P. II. Lebedev), "Nature", 1952, No. 4, pp. 93-96; Kaptsov N. A., Recollection of Petr Nikolayevich Lebedev, "Successes physical sciences", 1952, v. 46, issue 3; Timiryazev A. K., From the memoirs of Petr Nikolayevich Lebedev, ibid; Kravets T. P., P. N. Lebedev and light pressure, ibid.

Lebedev, Petr Nikolaevich

(8.III.1866-14.III.1912) - Russian experimental physicist. R. in Moscow. In 1884-87 he studied at the Moscow technical school where started physical research. Graduated from Strasbourg University (1891). In 1892 he began working at the Moscow University (since 1900 he was a professor). In 1911, in protest against the reactionary actions of the tsarist Minister of Education, L. Kasso left the university, along with many progressive teachers, and set up a new physical laboratory at the city university named after him with private funds. A. L. Shanyavsky.

Known as a brilliant virtuoso experimenter, the author of research carried out by modest means on the verge of the technical capabilities of that time, but striking with deep intuition and genius. In 1895 he created for the first time a set of devices for generating and receiving millimeter electromagnetic waves with a length of 6 and 4 mm, established their reflection, double refraction, interference, etc. In 1899 he experimentally proved the existence of light pressure on solids, and in 1907 - on gases, which was a direct confirmation of the electromagnetic theory of light. Experiments on light pressure brought Lebedev worldwide fame. On this occasion W. Thomson said: "All my life I fought with Maxwell, not recognizing his light pressure, and now ... Lebedev forced me to surrender before his experiments."

He also carried out original experiments on the magnetism of rotating bodies, put forward deep ideas about the nature of intermolecular forces and the origin of comet tails, and also dealt with acoustics, in particular ultraacoustics.

Created the first physical school in Russia (P. P. Lazarev, S. I. Vavilov, N. N. Andreev, V. K. Arkadiev, A. S. Predvoditelev, N. A. Kaptsov, A. R. Kolli, T. P. Kravets , V. D. Zernov, A. B. Mlodzeevsky, V. I. Romanov, K. P. Yakovlev, etc.). The Physics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the prize awarded by the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences for best work in the field of physics.

Cit.: Collected works. - M., Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1963.

Lit .: Dukov V. M. P. N. Lebedev. - 2nd ed., M., Uchpedgiz, 1956; Serdyukov A. R. Petr Nikolaevich Lebedev. - M., Nauka, 1978; Development of physics in Russia. - M., Enlightenment, 1970, 2 vols.


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