Arkadii Migdal

Born Feb. 26 (Mar. 11), 1911, in Lida, in present-day Grodno Oblast. Soviet theoretical physicist. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1966; corresponding member, 1953).

Migdal graduated from Leningrad University in 1936. He worked at the Institute for Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR from 1943 to 1945 and at the Institute of Atomic Energy from 1945 to 1971. Since 1971, Migdal has been working at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He has also been a professor at the Moscow Physical Engineering Institute since 1944.

Migdal developed the theory of dipole and quadrupole radiation of nuclei and the theory of ionization of atoms in nuclear reactions. He formulated a theory for extensive air showers, examined the effect of multiple scattering on bremsstrahlung, and developed a method for solving the quantum many-body problem. Migdal applied the theory of superconductivity to questions of nuclear structure and calculated the moments of inertia of even and odd nuclei. He developed a quantitative theory of the nucleus based on the application of quantum field theory. Migdal has also studied the polarization of a vacuum in strong magnetic fields.

Migdal has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and several medals.