
Andrey V. Gaponov-Grekhov
Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics
full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
founder and first director of the IAP RAS
(1926–2022)
A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov was born in Moscow into a family of physicists M.T. Grekhova and V.I. Gaponov on June 7, 1926. With the exception of the first seven years, his entire life was connected with Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky), where his parents moved from Moscow in 1933. After graduating from school as an external in 1943, he entered the special faculty of the Gorky Industrial Institute, but did not study there for long, since in 1945 he was transferred among the first recruits to the newly created Radiophysics Faculty of the Gorky State University, the founder and first dean of which was M.T. Grekhova.
A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov’s first steps in science were connected with the development of the theory of electromagnetic emitters in distributed resonant systems. He performed this study while still a student at Gorky University under the supervision of M.L. Levin. In 1949, A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov graduated from the University and became a PhD student of academician A.A. Andronov, one of the founders of the now widely known Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) scientific radiophysical school. A series of papers on the general theory of electromechanical systems turned out to be so significant that when defending his PhD thesis in 1955, A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov was also awarded the degree of Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics.
Research on the dynamics of waves in nonlinear media and the theory of oscillations of distributed systems, which was carried out under the leadership of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov in the second half of the 1950s, led to the discovery of electromagnetic shock waves and laid the foundation for one of the key fields of modern physics, namely, nonlinear dynamics of distributed systems. These works greatly stimulated the development of such fields of the Nizhny Novgorod radiophysical school as nonlinear optics, nonlinear acoustics, dynamic chaos, and self-organization in complex dynamical systems. In all these areas of nonlinear physics, the Nizhny Novgorod radiophysical school currently occupies a leading position.
One of the most remarkable scientific achievements of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov, which fully revealed his talent as an outstanding scientist and organizer of science, was the creation of the theory of stimulated emission of classical nonlinear oscillators in 1958-1961, the formulation, on this basis, of a new principle of generation and amplification of electromagnetic waves, and the implementation of this principle in electronic devices. In this work, he almost simultaneously managed to create a theory, set up an experiment, and design a new type of devices, namely, cyclotron resonance masers. These devices, later called gyrotrons, are beyond competition as the most powerful oscillators and amplifiers of coherent radiation in the centimeter, millimeter, and submillimeter wavelength ranges. In the following years, A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov's scientific interests were supplemented by relativistic electronics. These studies have also led to the creation of a whole class of powerful microwave relativistic devices capable of generating nanosecond pulses of a gigawatt peak power level. The created relativistic devices have found application in controlled thermonuclear fusion facilities, in high-power radar, in technological (e.g. plasma-chemical) processes, and the range of their applications is constantly expanding. The work on the creation and use of high-power microwave sources, carried out under the leadership of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov, was awarded three times the State Prizes of the USSR and Russian Federation.
As a rule, the role of the leading scientists in the development of science is not limited to the results obtained by them personally or by their students. A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov, as was already noted, is one of the outstanding organizers of science. His main merit in this field is the foundation of the Institute of Applied Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now IAP RAS) in 1977, which was headed by him for more than a quarter of a century from 1977 to 2003. Under his guidance, the Institute turned into one of the leading physical centers of the country in a short time, which successfully combines fundamental and applied research of a wide profile. The Institute holds a strong position in the field of plasma physics, high-power electronics, hydrophysics and hydroacoustics, quantum radiophysics and nonlinear optics, and physics of millimeter and submillimeter waves.
Leading a number of research projects on defense topics and heading the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the problems of hydrophysics in 1987–2012, A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov made a major contribution to strengthening the defense capability of Russia by solving scientific and applied problems of the Navy. On his initiative, the development of the low-frequency range of sound waves began as a “working tool” for active ocean diagnostics in large water areas. In the mid-1980s, demonstration field experiments were conducted under his scientific guidance, which convincingly showed the feasibility of remote diagnostics of the underwater environment on paths up to 1000 km long. Scientific and technological foundations were laid for the creation of high-power coherent acoustic low-frequency radiators, without which no major experimental research is conceivable in the field of remote ocean acoustics. The underwater acoustic radiators created at the IAP RAS are still unsurpassed in their characteristics, and they have been successfully used in the numerous field experiments. These devices were employed in the unique Russian-American projects TAP and ACOUS, which were performed to distribute low-frequency (~20 Hz) signals on stationary trans-Arctic paths and seem to be an important step towards implementing the idea of global ocean climate thermometry by means of low-frequency acoustics.
World-class results in the field of quantum electronics, laser physics, and nonlinear optics were also obtained under the guidance of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov. So, the first ruby crystal laser in the USSR was created in 1962. In the period of rapid development of quantum electronics (1965–1990), the work of the team headed by him largely determined the advanced level of development of this science. This is evidenced by two State Prizes, the Prize of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and two Prizes of the Government of Russia, received by the staff of the Institute on this subject. In the late 1990s, the first Russian femtosecond laser system of terawatt power level was created at the IAP RAS, then, of petawatt power level, and on this basis, a multi-petawatt laser system is being developed. These results made it possible to eliminate the lag of Russian science from the world level in the field of femtosecond optics and stimulated the development of a new scientific direction in the country, namely, the physics of super-strong electromagnetic fields and their interaction with matter.
Recognition of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov's merits in solving fundamental and applied problems of modern physics, national economic, and defense problems was his election as a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1964) and a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1968). He was awarded three State Prizes (1967, 1983, and 2003), the Demidov Prize (1995), the highest award of the Russian Academy of Sciences – the Lomonosov Great Gold Medal (2000), high state awards – the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1986), two Orders of Lenin (1975, 1986), the Order of the October Revolution (1981), and the Orders “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the III and II degrees (1999 and 2006).
One of the main priorities in the activities of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov himself and the institute he created has always been working with students and young scientists. From the first years of the existence of the IAP RAS, a system of continuous training of scientific personnel began to develop, including the basic physics and mathematics lyceum, the basic faculty and chairs at the Nizhny Novgorod State University, the Institute of interns, and postgraduate courses. Speaking about his care about work with young scientists, it is necessary to emphasize the special role of the Gorky Schools on nonlinear waves, which he has led for many years, which were regularly held in the period from 1972 to 1989 with the participation of the leading Soviet specialists and outstanding young researchers just starting to work in this interdisciplinary field. In the 2000s, the regular holding of such schools was resumed. For many young participants, these scientific schools have become schools of nonlinear knowledge obtained first-hand.
The scientific and organizational activities of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov outside the Institute are also versatile. This is not only his work in the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Hydrophysics (which was started when this council was headed by the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences A.P. Aleksandrov), but also in many other academic councils, commissions, and editorial boards of scientific publications. In the 1990s, when Russian science was almost left to its fate, he became one of the initiators of a target program to support the leading scientific schools of Russia. This program was intended to preserve and strengthen scientific schools as the most important and in many respects unique factor in the development of science in our country. And the fact that this program, along with the program for supporting young scientists, has received the high status of a program of the President of the Russian Federation is largely the personal merit of A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov and evidence for his high scientific and moral authority.
Without any exaggeration, it can be said that academician A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov is a vivid example of an outstanding scientist and organizer of science, whom the Russian scientific community is rightfully proud of.