Alexander Prokhorov

Alexander Prokhorov was a Soviet and Russian physicist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for foundational work on masers and lasers.

Nikolay Basov: A Soviet physicist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on masers and lasers. Basov collaborated with Prokhorov at the Lebedev Physical Institute on molecular oscillators.
Stimulated emission: A process in which an incoming photon prompts an excited atom or molecule to emit a matching photon. This quantum process underlies the amplification principles studied by Prokhorov.
Russian Civil War: A multisided conflict fought in the former Russian Empire from 1917 to 1923. Prokhorov was born in 1916, during the upheaval preceding the war.
Atomic clock: A timekeeping device that measures time using the resonant frequencies of atoms. Maser techniques enabled exceptionally stable frequency standards used in early atomic clocks.
Charles Hard Townes: An American physicist who developed the maser and shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics. Townes independently developed the maser, forming the Nobel-recognized counterpart to Soviet work.
Population inversion: A condition in which more particles occupy an excited state than a lower-energy state. Prokhorov and Basov explored ways to create this condition for microwave amplification.
Saint Petersburg State University: A major Russian university founded in 1724. Prokhorov studied physics there before joining the Lebedev Physical Institute.
Radio astronomy: The study of astronomical objects by detecting radio waves they emit or reflect. Stable masers became useful as sensitive amplifiers and frequency references in radio astronomy.
Lebedev Physical Institute: A Russian research institute in Moscow, known for work in physics. Prokhorov conducted his influential research there and later led the institute.
Maser: A device that amplifies or generates coherent radiation through stimulated emission, typically at microwave frequencies. Prokhorov’s foundational work helped establish molecular masers.

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