Konstantin Borisovich Efetov

Konstantin Borisovich Efetov, a Russian/German theoretical physicist, died on 11 August 2021 in Bochum, Germany. He was a recognized leader in the theory of condensed matter and a teacher of a number of actively working theorists.

Born on 29 April 1950 in the town of Orenburg, formerly (1938–57) Chkalov, in Southern Ural, Efetov went on to receive his education at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He received his PhD (Candidate of Science) in 1976 under the supervision of Anatoly Larkin at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics and later in 1983 obtained his Habilitation (Doctor of Science) there for studies of conductivity and superconductivity in low-dimensional systems.

Konstantin worked for more than 20 years at the L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Chernogolovka, Moscow region. From 1988 to 1997, he was a guest director at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. Since 1997 Efetov was a Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Ruhr-Universität in Bochum.

The dominant part of his work was devoted to disordered systems, superconductivity, and the properties of granular and low dimensional electronic systems. He pioneered the concept of supersymmetry in the physics of disordered systems, which is summarized in his book Supersymmetry in Disorder and Chaos. His name is also closely affiliated with the phenomenon of odd triplet superconductivity in superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures, where he wrote (jointly with A.F. Volkov and F. S. Bergeret) pioneering works. He also made essential contributions to the theory of granular and low-dimensional electronic systems. During his scientific career he received various research prizes, among them are Landau-Weizmann Research Prize in 1998, and Blaise Pascal Research Chair in 2011. Overall he published more than 200 papers, which are currently cited more than 15 000 times.

Konstantin Efetov was a great teacher of a number of actively working theorists. His students and collaborators are currently working in Spain, the US, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries.