Eduard Shpolsky
Encyclopedia
Eduard Vladimirovich Shpolsky, also Shpolsk'ii, Shpolskii ' onMouseout='HidePop("4111")' href="/topics/Voronezh">Voronezh
- died August 21, 1975 in Moscow
) was a Russia
n and Soviet
physicist
and educator, co-founder and lifelong editor of Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
journal (Soviet Physics Uspekhi and Physics-Uspekhi in English translation).
Shpolsky primary scientific contribution belongs to the field of molecular spectroscopy
, particularly luminescence
and absorption spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
s. In 1952 Shpolsky and his junior researchers A. A. Ilyina and L. A. Klimov discovered Shpolsky effect (Shpolskii matrix
es, an optical analogy
to Mössbauer effect
) in organic compounds, a property that allows highly selective spectroscopic identification of substances that normally do not possess clearly defined spectral line
s or bands. The discovery evolved into a discipline of its own, Shpolsky spectroscopy. Shpolsky authored the definitive Russian language
university textbook on Atomic Physics
, first printed in 1944 and reissued until 1974.
. In the aftermath of the Casso affair of 1911 professors of physics Pyotr Lazarev and Pyotr Lebedev and their assistant Sergey Vavilov resigned and joined the faculty of the fledgling private Shanyavsky University. Shpolsky followed them, remaining de jure
a student of Moscow State, and made his first research assignment in Lazarev's private laboratory in Arbat District. He graduated from the department of physics of Moscow State University
in 1913 and joined the staff of Shanyavsky University. In 1918 he returned to Moscow State University and lectured there until 1939. In 1932 he also joined the faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute and chaired its department of physics for 46 years. He received the doctorate
at MSU in 1933.
After World War II
Shpolsky engaged in physical studies of carcinogen
s. He reasoned that carcinogens should possess physical properties distinct from harmless substances, and although no such link was ever found, his studies led to the discovery of Shpolsky effect. In 1952 Shpolsky, Ilyina and Klimov published an article in Doklady Akademii Nauk asserting that complex organic substances that normally do not have clearly defined spectral lines do, in fact, emit or absorb them at low temperatures when mixed with specific organic solvent
s. Use of the solvent, forming a snow-like N-paraffin
structure at 77 K
, was a radical departure from an established spectroscopy routine. In the same year Pyotr Kapitsa
provided Shpolsky his laboratory to repeat the experiment at lower temperatures. This property became known as Shpolsky effect; Soviet authorities formally recognized it as a discovery
only after Shpolsky's death. Organic compounds possessing this effect became known as Shpolsky matrixes
and Shpolsky systems. The method, although lacking solid theoretical foundation
, provided extreme spectral selectivity
and became a major improvement in detecting 3,4-benzapyrene in the 1960s. In 1961 Karl Rebane suggested that Shpolsky effect was an optical analogy
to Mössbauer effect
(see zero-phonon line and phonon sideband
). Roman Personov
, an alumnus of Shpolsky laboratory, confirmed Rebane hypothesis
in 1971. Later studies showed that matrix isolation
fluorimetry has significant practical advantages over original Shpolsky methode.
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
- died August 21, 1975 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and educator, co-founder and lifelong editor of Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
Physics-Uspekhi is a scientific journal, a translation of the Russian journal of physics, Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk , continuing since 1918. The journal publishes long review papers which are supposed to generalize and summarize previously published results, making them easier to use and to...
journal (Soviet Physics Uspekhi and Physics-Uspekhi in English translation).
Shpolsky primary scientific contribution belongs to the field of molecular spectroscopy
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
, particularly luminescence
Luminescence
Luminescence is emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; it is thus a form of cold body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions, or stress on a crystal. This distinguishes luminescence from incandescence, which is light emitted by a...
and absorption spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , also known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, are potent atmospheric pollutants that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents. Naphthalene is the simplest example of a PAH...
s. In 1952 Shpolsky and his junior researchers A. A. Ilyina and L. A. Klimov discovered Shpolsky effect (Shpolskii matrix
Shpolskii matrix
A Shpolskii matrix is a low-temperature host-guest system consisting of guest or impurity chromophore embedded in a crystalline matrix. The fluorescence emission spectra and absorption spectra of Shpolskii matrices exhibit narrow lines instead of the inhomogeneously broadened features normally...
es, an optical analogy
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
to Mössbauer effect
Mössbauer effect
The Mössbauer effect, or recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence, is a physical phenomenon discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958. It involves the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of γ radiation by atomic nuclei bound in a solid...
) in organic compounds, a property that allows highly selective spectroscopic identification of substances that normally do not possess clearly defined spectral line
Spectral line
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from a deficiency or excess of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies.- Types of line spectra :...
s or bands. The discovery evolved into a discipline of its own, Shpolsky spectroscopy. Shpolsky authored the definitive Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
university textbook on Atomic Physics
Atomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. It is primarily concerned with the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus and...
, first printed in 1944 and reissued until 1974.
Biography
Shpolsky studied at the department of physics of Moscow State UniversityMoscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
. In the aftermath of the Casso affair of 1911 professors of physics Pyotr Lazarev and Pyotr Lebedev and their assistant Sergey Vavilov resigned and joined the faculty of the fledgling private Shanyavsky University. Shpolsky followed them, remaining de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
a student of Moscow State, and made his first research assignment in Lazarev's private laboratory in Arbat District. He graduated from the department of physics of Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
in 1913 and joined the staff of Shanyavsky University. In 1918 he returned to Moscow State University and lectured there until 1939. In 1932 he also joined the faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute and chaired its department of physics for 46 years. He received the doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
at MSU in 1933.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Shpolsky engaged in physical studies of carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
s. He reasoned that carcinogens should possess physical properties distinct from harmless substances, and although no such link was ever found, his studies led to the discovery of Shpolsky effect. In 1952 Shpolsky, Ilyina and Klimov published an article in Doklady Akademii Nauk asserting that complex organic substances that normally do not have clearly defined spectral lines do, in fact, emit or absorb them at low temperatures when mixed with specific organic solvent
Solvent
A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...
s. Use of the solvent, forming a snow-like N-paraffin
Paraffin
In chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...
structure at 77 K
Kelvin
The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...
, was a radical departure from an established spectroscopy routine. In the same year Pyotr Kapitsa
Pyotr Kapitsa
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa was a prominent Soviet/Russian physicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Kapitsa was born in the city of Kronstadt and graduated from the Petrograd Polytechnical Institute in 1918. He worked for over ten years with Ernest Rutherford in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge...
provided Shpolsky his laboratory to repeat the experiment at lower temperatures. This property became known as Shpolsky effect; Soviet authorities formally recognized it as a discovery
Discovery (observation)
Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something "old" that had been unknown. With reference to science and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the knowledge gathered through such...
only after Shpolsky's death. Organic compounds possessing this effect became known as Shpolsky matrixes
Shpolskii matrix
A Shpolskii matrix is a low-temperature host-guest system consisting of guest or impurity chromophore embedded in a crystalline matrix. The fluorescence emission spectra and absorption spectra of Shpolskii matrices exhibit narrow lines instead of the inhomogeneously broadened features normally...
and Shpolsky systems. The method, although lacking solid theoretical foundation
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
, provided extreme spectral selectivity
Selectivity
Selectivity may refer to:* Selectivity , in radio transmission* Binding selectivity, in pharmacology* Functional selectivity, in pharmacology* Socioemotional selectivity theory, in social psychology...
and became a major improvement in detecting 3,4-benzapyrene in the 1960s. In 1961 Karl Rebane suggested that Shpolsky effect was an optical analogy
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
to Mössbauer effect
Mössbauer effect
The Mössbauer effect, or recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence, is a physical phenomenon discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958. It involves the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of γ radiation by atomic nuclei bound in a solid...
(see zero-phonon line and phonon sideband
Zero-phonon line and phonon sideband
The zero-phonon line and the phonon sideband jointly constitute the line shape of individual light absorbing and emitting molecules embedded into a transparent solid matrix. When the host matrix contains many chromophores, each will contribute a zero-phonon line and a phonon sideband to the...
). Roman Personov
Roman Personov
Roman Ivanovich Personov was a Soviet and Russian scientist, professor, doctor, one of the founders of selective laser spectroscopy of complex molecules in solids .He was awarded the Humboldt Prize in 1998....
, an alumnus of Shpolsky laboratory, confirmed Rebane hypothesis
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
in 1971. Later studies showed that matrix isolation
Matrix Isolation
Matrix isolation is an experimental technique used in chemistry and physics which generally involves a material being trapped within an unreactive matrix. A host matrix is a continuous solid phase in which guest particles are embedded. The guest is said to be isolated within the host matrix...
fluorimetry has significant practical advantages over original Shpolsky methode.
External links
- Bibliography (in Russian) (Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk)
Sources
, in:-
- published in: pp. 171–179