Anatoly Vlasov
| Anatoly Vlasov | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 August [O.S. 7 August] 1908 Balashov, Russian Empire |
| Died | 22 December 1975 (aged 67) Moscow, Russian SFSR |
| Citizenship | Russia USSR |
| Nationality | Russia |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | Moscow State University |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Doctoral advisor | Igor Tamm |
| Known for | development of plasma physics, Vlasov equation |
| Notable awards | Lenin Prize (1970) |
Anatoly Alexandrovich Vlasov (Russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Вла́сов; 20 August [O.S. 7 August] 1908 – 22 December 1975) was a Russian theoretical physicist prominent in the fields of statistical mechanics, kinetics, and especially in plasma physics.
Anatoly Vlasov was born in Balashov, in the family of a steamfitter. In 1927 he entered into the Moscow State University (MSU) and graduated from the MSU in 1931. After the graduation Vlasov continued to work in the MSU, where he spent all his life, collaborating with Nobelists Pyotr Kapitsa, Lev Landau, and other leading physicists. He became a full Professor at the Moscow State University in 1944 and was the head of the theoretical physics department in the Faculty of Physics at Moscow State University in the period 1945—1953.
In 1970 he received the Lenin Prize.
His main works are in optics, plasma physics, physics of crystals, theory of gravitation, and statistical physics.
In optics he analyzed, partially jointly with Vasily Fursov, spectral line broadening in gases at large densities (1936—1938). A new suggestion in these works was to use long range collective interactions between atoms for a correct description of spectra line broading at large densities.
Vlasov became world famous for his work on plasma physics (1938) (see also ). He showed that Boltzmann equation is not suitable for a description of plasma dynamics due to the existence in plasma of long range collective forces. Instead, an equation known now as the Vlasov equation was suggested for the correct description to take into account the long range collective forces through a self-consistent field. The field is determined by taking moments of the distribution function described in Vlasov's equation to compute both the charge density and current density. Coupled with Maxwell's equations, the resulting system of differential equations are well-posed provided correct initial conditions and boundary conditions are provided.
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