Abram Alikhanov
Abram Isaakovich Alikhanov (ahl-eek-ahn-off; Russian: Абрам Исаакович Алиханов, born Alikhanian; 4 March [O.S. 20 February] 1904 – 8 December 1970) was a Soviet Armenian experimental physicist who specialized in particle and nuclear physics. He was one of the Soviet Union's leading physicists.
Abram Isaakovich Alikhanov | |
|---|---|
Alikhanov in 1948 | |
| Born | Abraham Alikhanian 4 March [O.S. 20 February] 1904 Elizavetpol, Elizavetpol Governorate, Russian Empire (today Ganja, Azerbaijan) |
| Died | 8 December 1970 (aged 66) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Armenian |
| Citizenship | Soviet Union |
| Alma mater | Leningrad Polytechnic Institute |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Particle physics, nuclear physics |
| Institutions | Physical-Technical Institute (1927–41) Laboratory no. 2 (1943–45) Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (1945–68) |
Alikhanov studied X-rays and cosmic rays before joining the Soviet atomic bomb project. Between 1945 and 1968 he directed the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) in Moscow, which was named after him in 2004. He led the development of both the first research and the first industrial heavy water reactors in the Soviet Union. They were commissioned in 1949 and 1951, respectively. He was also a pioneer in Soviet accelerator technology. In 1934 he and Igor Kurchatov created a "baby cyclotron", the first "cyclotron" operating outside of Berkeley, California. He was the driving force behind the construction of the 70 GeV synchrotron in Serpukhov (1967), the largest in the world at the time.
His brother, Artem Alikhanian, was based in Soviet Armenia and led the Yerevan Physics Institute for many years.