The Niels Bohr Archive's
History of Science Seminar
Tuesday 14 May 2002 at 14.15
Aud. M, Niels Bohr Institute
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen

Yuri Demkov
Professor of Theoretical Physics, Leningrad University

V.A.Fock and his role in the development of
theoretical physics in the twentieth century

Abstract:
Short biography. Fock's teachers. Immediate reaction to Schrödinger series. Göttingen work with Born. Klein-Fock-Gordon equation. Self-consistent field. Second quantisation. Hidden symmetry of hydrogen atom. QED-papers. Gravitation. Propagation of radio waves. Discussions with Bohr in the 1960s. Foundations of quantum theory and gravitational theory. Relations with Landau. Family. Personal reminiscences.

Biography:
Born in 1926, Demkov was a student of Professor Fock, working with him for 25 years from 1949 until Fock's death in 1974, when Demkov succeeded Fock as professor at Leningrad University. Demkov's main areas of interest are theoretical atomic physics and atomic collisions.