Vadim Kuzmin (physicist)

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Vadim Alekseyevich Kuzmin
Vadim Alexeevich Kuzmin.jpg
Native nameВадим Алексеевич Кузьмин
Born(1937-04-16)16 April 1937
Moscow
Died 17 September 2015(2015-09-17) (aged 78)
Moscow
Education Moscow State University
Known for GZK limit
Scientific career
Institutions Institute for Nuclear Research

Vadim Alekseyevich Kuzmin (Russian : Вади́м Алексе́евич Кузьми́н; 16 April 1937 – 17 September 2015) was a Russian theoretical physicist.

Contents

Biography

Kuzmin completed his undergraduate studies in 1961 at Moscow State University and his PhD in 1971 at Lebedev Institute. He has been a member of the Institute for Nuclear Research in Moscow since its founding in 1970. There, he became a professor and chair of the department of particle astrophysics and cosmology. In 1987, he obtained the Russian doctoral title.

In the 1980s, he was a pioneer in the theory of elektroweak baryogenesis. In 1985, his influential work with Valery Rubakov and Mikhail E. Shaposhnikov estimated the rate of anomalous electroweak process that violated baryon-number conservation in the cosmic plasma of the early universe. [1]

In neutrino physics, he proposed an experiment using gallium/germanium detectors to detect solar neutrinos. In 1970, he proposed neutron/antineutron oscillations as a possibility for observing violation of baryon number.

In 1970, he independently discovered the Sakharov conditions.

In 1966, he and Georgiy Zatsepin predicted (what is now called) the GZK limit for cosmic rays. [2]

In 2000, he became a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2006, he received the Pomeranchuk Prize with Howard Georgi. In 2003, he received the Moisey Markov Prize.

Related Research Articles

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The Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit (GZK limit) is a theoretical upper limit on the energy of cosmic ray protons traveling from other galaxies through the intergalactic medium to our galaxy. The limit is 5×1019 eV, or about 8 joules. The limit is set by slowing interactions of the protons with the microwave background radiation over long distances (~160 million light-years). The limit is at the same order of magnitude as the upper limit for energy at which cosmic rays have experimentally been detected. For example, one extreme-energy cosmic ray has been detected which appeared to possess a record 3.12×1020 eV (50 joules) of energy (about the same as the kinetic energy of a 95 km/h baseball).

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References

  1. V. A. Kuzmin; V. A. Rubakov; M. E. Shaposhnikov (1985-05-16). "On anomalous electroweak baryon-number non-conservation in the early universe". Physics Letters B. 155 (1–2): 36–42. Bibcode:1985PhLB..155...36K. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(85)91028-7.
  2. Zatsepin, G. T.; Kuz'min, V. A. (1966). "Upper Limit of the Spectrum of Cosmic Rays" (PDF). Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters. 4: 7880. Bibcode:1966JETPL...4...78Z.