Lev Pavlovich Rapoport

Lev Pavlovich Rapoport, who headed Voronezh State University’s school of theoretical physics for more than 40 years, died of bladder cancer in Voronezh, Russia, on 15 September 2000. Rapoport was well known for his pioneering works in nuclear and atomic physics.

Rapoport was born on 13 January 1920 in the small town of Usman’ in the Lipetsk region of Russia. After studying in a school for pilots from 1937 to 1940, he entered Moscow’s Institute of Aviation in 1940, but never completed his schooling there because of the German invasion of 1941. He was evacuated to the Siberian city of Irkutsk, where he worked until the end of World War II in an aviation plant as a technician.

In 1946, Rapoport entered Voronezh State University; he received his diploma in physics in 1948. He received his PhD degree in physics in 1951. His doctoral thesis, written under the supervision of Maria A. Levitskaya, the first professor of physics at Voronezh State, was on gamma and beta processes in atomic nuclei. Rapoport spent the remainder of his career in Voronezh State University’s department of theoretical physics. (Note that, in Russia, a “school of theoretical physics” refers to a group of individuals who received their PhDs in theoretical physics from one and the same professor, who initially headed the department of theoretical physics.) He was an assistant professor (1952–56); chair (1956–93); and full professor (from 1971 until his death). During the reconstruction period following World War II, Rapoport taught nearly all the basic courses in theoretical physics and developed most of the department’s elective courses.

Rapoport’s scientific achievements spanned a wide range of physics. After becoming a well-known specialist in theoretical nuclear physics during the 1950s, he published works in the then-new fields of superfluidity and superconductivity in the early 1960s. He gave a generalization of the Landau–Ginzburg equations applicable for lower temperatures and proposed a microscopic theory of magnetic flux quantization in superconductors. He also contributed to the development of the theory of finite Fermi systems, which he applied to the nuclear processes of beta decay and electron capture. In this work, the Green’s function method formed the basis for numerical calculations.

The Green’s function method also proved exceptionally fruitful in solving a problem that had taken on great importance by the late 1960s: the behavior of atoms and molecules in high-intensity laser fields. From that time until the end of his career, Rapoport was committed to studying this behavior. His first works in this field concerned the simplest of atoms, atomic hydrogen, and, more specifically, light scattering from, and two-photon ionization of, hydrogen atoms. His analytical calculations of the cross sections for those processes are now considered classic works, and the methods he used to derive the corresponding formulas have formed the basis of many subsequent theoretical works by researchers both in Russia and abroad. Further modifications of the Green’s function method enabled researchers to study multiphoton processes in many-electron atoms and in simple molecules and also made possible numerical calculations of higher-order relativistic effects in atomic spectra.

Rapoport involved many of his students in scientific research. His high standards for teaching made him a leader in education, not only in physics but in many other programs at Voronezh State University. For example, he was a member of the university’s scientific council, on which he actively influenced both the curricula and the scientific research of the university’s mathematics and science departments. During the last quarter century of his life, he was the leading professor at Voronezh State University. In all, he trained 25 PhD students, 8 of whom subsequently obtained the DSc degree in physics and became professors who are now working in Russia and abroad. One may say that Rapoport guided the development of both the curricula and the faculty of the department of theoretical physics.

The high quality of his research brought Rapoport increasing recognition. For his pioneering contributions to the theory of multiphoton processes in atoms, he was awarded the DSc degree in 1970 by Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State University). In 1980, he was given the title Distinguished Scientist of the Russian Federation, which is an honor granted annually by the Russian government to only about 100 scientists in all scientific fields. Additionally, he was among the first recipients of grants for fundamental research from both Russian and international scientific foundations, including the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the International Science Foundation. Rapoport also served on the Russian Academy of Science’s Scientific Council for Atomic Spectroscopy and Scientific Council for Coherent and Nonlinear Optics.

Rapoport was intellectually inquisitive; his interests were not limited to physics or science. For example, he was quite knowledgeable about literature and the arts. Although he was apolitical, when decisions needed to be made, he took a democratic position. But most of all, he was known to be enthusiastic about his interests. Consequently, he was a natural-born leader and the life of any gathering. Also, he typically devoted himself entirely to whatever he was doing, regardless of whether it was science or playing chess with his students. He was fortunate that his vitality lasted essentially all his life. When he turned 80 years old, a television program (on Voronezh’s regional TV) about him showed him as both physically and intellectually vigorous.

One of the many anecdotes about his passion for his interests was an occasion on which he was playing chess with students until very late at night. His wife Svetlana telephoned his office, wondering why he was not coming home. Rapoport was so involved and excited about the game that he blurted out, “Oh, it is raining so hard here! I must wait until it slows down.” Since his office was not far from his home, his surprised wife replied, “But we do not have any rain here! The weather is nice!” to which he answered, “Oh, it is a real disaster here. It is raining very hard!”

Especially at the Voronezh State University’s department of theoretical physics, we have suffered a deep loss in the departure of Rapoport. We mourn his passing.

Translation assistance by Anthony F. Starace