American physicist, member of the National Academy of Sciences (1948). After graduating Higher Engineering School in Zurich and University of Leipzig (1928) he headed the Department of Theoretical Physics in Stanford University (1934). Professor since 1936, in 1942-1945 he worked on atomic energy at the Laboratory in Los-Alamos. Being one of the promulgators of the quantum theory of solids, Bloch developed the theory of energy spectrum of crystals, magnetization dependence of ferromagnets with temperatures close to absolute zero and was the first who suggested the term of spin waves. In 1946 Bloch discovered the nuclear magnetic resonance independently from Purcell and shared (with Purcell) the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1952.
Gorter, Cornelius Jacob
The works by Netherlands physicist, member of Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1946), and the Academy President (1960-1966) C.J.Gorter were devoted to physics of solids, low-temperature physics, superconductivity and magnetism. In 1934 Gorter (together with H.Kazimir) developed a phenomenological theory of superconductivity and predicted Meissner effect. He also discovered paramagnetic relaxation (1936) and antiferromagnetic resonance (1951).
Kapitsa, Pyotr Leonidovich
Physicist, one of the founders of low-temperature physics and magnetism, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939), Kapitsa was twice given the title Hero of the Socialist Labour (1945, 1974). In 1921-1934 he was sent to England to study at the University of Cambridge. The founder and first director (1935-1946, then since 1955) of the Institute for Physical Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he discovered the property of helium superfluidity (1938). Kapitsa developed a technique of air liquefaction via turbo-expander, which was a new type of microwave oscillator. He discovered that there was a stable form of plasma filament with temperature of electrons of 105-106K in solid gases with HF discharge. For his achievements Kapitsa was given two Stalin Prizes (1941, 1943), Nobel Prize (1978) and Lomonosov Golden Medal of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
