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Konstantin Petrzhak

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For other people named Pietrzak, see Pietrzak (disambiguation).
Konstantin Petrzhak
Константин Антонович Петржак
Born(1907-09-07)September 7, 1907
Łuków, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
(now Łuków, Poland)
DiedOctober 10, 1998(1998-10-10) (aged 91)
Russia
NationalityPole
Alma materSaint Petersburg State University
Known for
Discovery of spontaneous fission
AwardsOrder of the Badge of Honour
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics (nuclear)
Institutions
Doctoral advisorIgor Kurchatov
Other academic advisorsVitaly Khlopin

Konstantin Petrzhak (Russian: Константи́н Анто́нович Петржак, IPA: [kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɐnˈtonɐvɪt͡ɕ pʲɛtʐak]; 1907-1998) was a Soviet physicist of Polish origin. He discovered spontaneous fission of uranium jointly with Georgy Flyorov in 1940.[1]

Biography

Konstantin Petrzhak was born on 3 September 1907 in Łuków (Congress Poland, Russian Empire, now in Poland). Antoni Petrzhak was his father. When Konstantin was 12 years old he started working as a painter at a glass-making factory in Malaya Vishera. In 1928 he went to Saint-Petersburg to study at rabfak of Saint Petersburg State University (which was then called Leningrad State University). In 1931 he started studying in radiology group there.[2] In 1936 Konstantin Petrzhak graduated from Saint Petersburg State University.

In 1934 he started working at Khlopin Radium Institute in Saint Petersburg (which was named First Radium Institute at that time).[3] Igor Kurchatov was the head of laboratory where he started working. There Konstantin Petrzhak wrote Ph.D. thesis "study of thorium and samarium radioactivity".[4] Vitaly Khlopin and Igor Kurchatov were his scientific advisors. From 1939 to 1940 he and Georgy Flyorov studied uranium radiation under general supervision of Igor Kurchatov. In 1939 the experiments were carried out in Saint Petersburg.[5] In 1940 they were verified in Moscow in an underground lab under Dinamo station of Moscow Metro. They created a highly sensitive ionization chamber to detect daughter nuclei fragments which originate from fission of uranium.[6] The ionization chamber had electrodes in it with the total square of about 1000 cm2.[7] The samples of uranium were placed inside the chamber.[8] The detector was checked while measuring background.[8] When the source of neutrons was taken away the detector still detected particles. Then they assumed that spontaneous fission was discovered.[9] The certificate of discovery stated "the new type of radioactivity with mother nucleus decays into two nuclei, that have kinetic energy of about 160 MeV".[10][11]

In 1940 Konstantin Petrzhak was suggested to enter the leading team of soviet atomic bomb project.[12] He is rumoured to participate in soviet atomic project.

When Soviet Union entered the World War II Petrzhak was eligible for serving in Red Army. If he was awarded the Stalin Prize he could avoid entering the regular army. The Academy of Sciences of USSR nominated him to receive this prize in early 1940s. But he didn't receive the prize.[13] So during World War II Petrzhak served in military intelligence of a CIWS regiment first as a junior leutenant[14] and later as a senior leutenant.[15][16] Since 28 June 1941 he participated in battle on Karelian Isthmus. Later he fought in Volkhov Front.[17]

Konstantin Petrzhak founded a laboratory of neutron physics and nuclear fission in Khlopin Radium Institute in 1947 and was the head of this laboratory until 1986.[18] Later he was one of the founders of Engineering faculty of Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology.[19] There he founded a department of nuclear physics in 1949[18] and was the head of it for 22 years.[20] In 1961 he founded a laboratory of nuclear energy there. Konstantin Petrzhak created an express method of detection of plutonium and associated radioisotopes in samples of irradiated uranium.[18] Konstantin Petrzhak was doktor nauk and a professor. He died on October 10, 1998 and was buried in Saint Petersburg.

Awards

Selected works

  • Adamov VM, Drapchinsky LV, Kovalenko SS, Petrzhak KA, Pleskachevsky LA, Tyutyugin II (1974). "Polar light particle emission in spontaneous fission of 252Cf". Physics Letters B. 48 (4): 311–314. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(74)90597-8.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

References

  1. ^ Flerov GN, Petrzhak KA (1940). "Spontaneous fission of uranium". Proc USSR Acad Sci (28): 500.
  2. ^ Драпчинский, Л.В. "К 100-летию со дня рождения К.А. Петржака" [To 100-year anniversary of K. A. Petrzhak]. Семейные истории. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  3. ^ Асташенков, Петр Тимофеевич (1968). Курчатов. М.: Молодая гвардия. p. 24. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Иоффе, А. Ф. (1985). "Открытие молодых советских ученых". О физике и физиках (PDF). Наука. Мировоззрение. Жизнь (2 ed.). Ленинград.: Наука. Ленинградское отделение. Retrieved October 31, 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Уран. III. Как было открыто спонтанное деление [Uranium. III. How spontaneous fission was discovered]. Популярная библиотека химических элементов (in Russian). 27 September 2003.
  6. ^ Oganessian, Yuri (2003). Г. Н. Флёров. Молодые годы [G. Flyorov. Early years] (DOC) (in Russian). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ Кузнецова, Р.В. Многослойная ионизационная камера [Multilayer ionization chamber]. Приборы и инструменты России (in Russian). p. 15.
  8. ^ a b Flerov GN, Petrzhak KA (1961). "Спонтанное деление ядер" [Spontaneous fission of nuclei] (PDF). Physics-Uspekhi (in Russian). LXXIII (4): 657.
  9. ^ Holloway, David. Сталин и бомба [Stalin and the Bomb] (in Russian). ISBN 0300066643.
  10. ^ Открытие спонтанного деления урана [Discovery of spontaneous fission in uranium] (in Russian).
  11. ^ Флеров, Петржак – Научное открытие №33 Спонтанное деление ядер урана [Flerov, Petrzhak - Scientific discovery №33. Spontaneous fission of uranium]. Научные открытия России (in Russian). Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  12. ^ Создание первой атомной бомбы в СССР [Works on creation of the first atomic bomb in USSR]. "BioFile.ru" (in Russian).
  13. ^ Губарев, B.C. (2000). XX век. Исповеди: судьба науки и ученых в России. [20 century. Confessions: the destiny of science and scientists of Russia.] (in Russian). М.: МАИК "Наука/Интерпериодика". ISBN 5-7846-0034-6. Retrieved October 31, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |script-title=: missing prefix (help)
  14. ^ Рябев, Л. Д., ed. (2000). Атомный проект СССР. Том II. 1945-1954 Книга 2 (in Russian). Vol. II. Москва-Саров: РФЯЦ-ВНИИЭФ. p. 426. ISBN 5-85165-402-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Зенькович, Николай (2004). Тайны ушедшего века. Власть. Распри. Подоплека [Mysteries of the passing century. Power. Arguements. Causes.] (in Russian). Moscow: ОЛМА Медиа Групп. ISBN 5224046769. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  16. ^ Крюков, С.Г. Достоин ли А. Сахаров почестей? [Whether A. Sakharov is worth ceremonial?]. Своими именами (in Russian). Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  17. ^ Рояль эмоций, Творцы - ч. 170 (in Russian). Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  18. ^ a b c "Konstantin Petrzhak" Константин Петржак. Russian Engineers (in Russian). 2010.
  19. ^ Выпускники и преподаватели [Alumni and Faculty]. Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (in Russian).
  20. ^ История кафедры [History of department]. Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (in Russian).

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