The world is not fully created: the heavens are always being renewed, astronomers are always adding new ones to the old stars. If I discovered a star - I would call it Friedman - I would not find a better way to make everything more clearly visible.
Friedman! Until now, he is an inhabitant of only a few bookshelves - an amateur mathematician, a young meteorologist and military aviator on the German front somewhere, and later - the organizer of the University of Perm at the dawn of Soviet power. Member of Osoaviakhim. Having caught typhus in the Crimea, unfortunately, he did not return from Crimea. Died. And they forgot about him. Only a quarter of a century later they remembered the man and seemed to revive him: “Young, full of boldness, he did not think without ideas. It is a fact that in some ways he went further than Einstein himself: sensing the inconstancy of forms in this hurricane world, he saw galaxies scattering in the curvature of space.” – “Expansion of the Universe? We need to figure this out!”
They begin to bicker.
But the fact is undeniable: this Friedman was a scientist with a very enviable future. Oh, shine a new star above the horizon, Friedman!
Some inaccuracies do not at all spoil the poems of Leonid Martynov, dedicated to the mathematician, physicist, meteorologist Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman, who, despite his short life, managed to leave a noticeable mark on world science.
Academician P. L. Kapitsa argued that Friedman was one of the best Russian scientists. “If it had not been for his death from typhoid fever at the age of 37... he certainly would have done a lot more in physics and mathematics and would have achieved the highest academic ranks. At a young age, he was already a professor and was world famous among specialists in the theory of relativity and meteorology. In the 20s, while in Leningrad, I often heard reviews of Friedman as an outstanding scientist from professors Krutkov, Fredericks, and Bursian.”
While still a high school student, Friedman (together with Ya. D. Tumarkin) published two short articles on number theory. Both received an approving review from the famous mathematician D. Hilbert. Friedman’s widow wrote: “...In childhood, the most severe punishment was invented for him, which pacified his rebellious temper: he was left without an arithmetic lesson, and he remained that way for the rest of his life. While still a student he published several mathematical studies; one of them was awarded a Gold Medal from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.” The widow was referring to work on number theory - again done with Tumarkin.
In 1910, Friedman graduated from St. Petersburg University and was retained at the mathematics department to prepare for a professorship. At the same time, he taught classes in higher mathematics at the Institute of Railways and the Mining Institute. For many years, Friedman maintained a trusting relationship with his teacher, Academician Steklov. The correspondence of scientists is of undoubted value, since it allows not only to see their interests, but also to understand the atmosphere that reigned in mathematics of that era.
“Dear Vladimir Andreevich,” Friedman wrote in 1911, “I had to remember the saying that you spoke about this spring: “Do as you know, you will still regret it.”
The fact is that I decided to get married.
I have already told you in general terms about my fiancee. She is taking a course (mathematics); her name is Ekaterina Petrovna Dorofeeva; a little older than me; I think that marriage will not have an adverse effect on my studies...”
In the same letter, Friedman reported:
“...Our classes are with Yak. Dove. (with Yakov Davidovich Tamarkin, a student of V.A. Steklov and friend of Friedman) are going, it seems, quite favorably. They, of course, consist solely of reading the courses and articles recommended by you for the master's exam. We have already finished hydrodynamics and are starting to study the theory of elasticity. We have several questions, but it’s better to find out when we meet with you.”
In 1913, Friedman passed the exams for a master's degree in pure and applied mathematics. Having become interested in mathematical aerology, he got a job at the Aerological Observatory in the city of Pavlovsk, but at the end of the summer of 1914 the First World War began. Friedman volunteered to join an aviation detachment operating on the Northern Front. Starting as a private, he quickly rose to the rank of corporal, and in the summer of 1915 he received his first officer rank - warrant officer. Friedman not only established air navigation and aerological services on the Northern Front, but also took part in combat missions more than once as an observer pilot.
“...My life flows quite smoothly,” he wrote to Steklov on February 5, 1915, “except for such accidents as: the explosion of shrapnel at 20 steps, the explosion of the fuse of an Austrian bomb in half a step, which ended almost safely for me, and falling on my face and head, which ended with a torn upper lip and headaches. But, of course, you get used to all this, especially when you see things around you that are a thousand times heavier...”
After the October Revolution, Friedman returned to teaching.
In 1918, he was given the position of extraordinary professor at the department of theoretical mathematics of the young Perm University.
Friedman taught at Perm University for two years.
Only in 1920 did he return to Petrograd.
In a hungry, cold capital, a young scientist got a job at the Main Physical Observatory. At the same time, he gave lectures at several universities, including Petrograd University. In 1922, Friedman derived a general equation for determining the velocity vortex, which later became fundamental in the theory of weather forecasting. At the Naval Academy, he gave a course of lectures “Experience in the hydromechanics of a compressible fluid,” solving a complex problem about the movement of a liquid or gas at very high speeds, when the liquid or gas cannot in principle be considered ideal and their compressibility must be taken into account. In those same years, together with L.V. Keller, he indicated a system of characteristics of the structure of a turbulent flow and constructed a closed system of equations, connecting the pulsations of speed and pressure at two points of the flow at different times. In 1925, for research purposes, he ascended in a balloon with the famous Soviet stratonaut P. Fedoseenko to a record height for that time - 7.4 kilometers.
Friedman’s two small works on cosmology attracted particular attention: “On the Curvature of Space” (1922), and “On the Possibility of a World with Constant Negative Curvature” (1924), published in the Berlin Physical Journal. In these works, Friedman showed that the geometric properties of the Universe on large scales should change dramatically over time, that is, all such changes should be of the nature of “expansion” or “compression.” A few years later, the American astronomer Hubble actually discovered the effect of the recession of galaxies - a consequence of the expansion of the Universe.
Before Friedman’s work, the belief in a static Universe was so great that even Einstein, when developing the general theory of relativity, introduced into his equations the so-called cosmological constant - a kind of “anti-gravity” force, which, unlike other forces, was not generated by any physical source , but was embedded in the very structure of space-time.
On September 18, 1922, Einstein published “Remarks on the work of A. Friedman “On the curvature of space.” The summary of this remark read: “...The results regarding the non-stationary world contained in the mentioned work seem to me suspicious.” However, already on May 31, 1923, having understood the work of the Russian scientist, Einstein hastened to announce: “... In the previous note, I criticized Friedman’s work. However, my criticism, as I became convinced... was based on an error in calculations. I think Friedman's results are correct."
Friedman proved that the matter of the Universe does not necessarily have to be at rest. The Universe cannot be stationary, he believed. The universe must either expand or contract.
In arguing this, Friedman proceeded from two assumptions.
Firstly, he pointed out, the Universe looks absolutely the same everywhere, no matter in what direction we observe it, and, secondly, this statement always remains valid, no matter from what place we observe the Universe.
The models considered by Friedman said that at some point in time in the past, naturally - cosmic time, that is, billions and billions of years distant from us (time that the human brain finds it difficult to perceive as something real), the distance between all galaxies should was equal to zero. At this moment (usually called the Big Bang), the density of the Universe and the curvature of space should have been infinite. Since mathematicians cannot actually handle infinitely large quantities, this meant that, according to the general theory of relativity, there had to be a point in the Universe at which none of the laws of this theory itself could apply.
Such a point is called singular.
Analyzing the concept of singularity, the French mathematician Lemaitre proposed calling the state of such a high concentration of matter a “primary atom.” He wrote: “The word “atom” should be understood here in its original, Greek meaning. An atom is something so simple that nothing can be said about it and not a single question can be asked about it. Here we have a completely incomprehensible beginning. Only when the atom disintegrated into a large number of fragments, filling the space of a small but not exactly zero radius, did physical concepts begin to acquire meaning.”
Friedman's work caused a lot of unrest among physicists.
The idea that time once had a beginning did not appeal to many, wrote American astrophysicist Hawking. But I didn’t like this idea precisely because it contained some, albeit vague, hint of the intervention of divine forces. It is no coincidence that the Catholic Church seized on the Big Bang model. In 1951, the Pope officially declared that the Big Bang model was fully consistent with the Bible.
Cosmologist W. Bonnor commented on this fact:
“Some scientists identified the singularity with God and thought that at that moment the universe was born. It seems to me highly inappropriate to force God to solve our scientific problems. There is no place for such supernatural intervention in science. And anyone who believes in God and associates a singularity in differential equations with him risks losing the need for him when mathematics improves.”
“The view I take is that the universe has an unlimited past and future. This may seem as puzzling as the assumption that her story is finite. However, in scientific terms, this point of view is a methodological foundation, and nothing else. Science should not arbitrarily accept hypotheses that limit the scope of its research.”
“Sometimes they say,” wrote Academician Kapitsa, “that Friedman did not really believe in his own theory and treated it only as a mathematical curiosity. He allegedly said that his job was to solve equations, and that other specialists—physicists—should understand the physical meaning of the solutions. This ironic statement about his work by a witty man cannot change our high appreciation of his discovery. Even if Friedman was not sure that the expansion of the Universe, resulting from his mathematical calculations, exists in nature, this in no way detracts from his scientific merit. Let us recall, for example, Dirac’s theoretical prediction of the positron. Dirac also did not believe in the real existence of the positron and treated his calculations as a purely mathematical achievement, convenient for describing certain processes. But the positron was discovered, and Dirac, without even realizing it, turned out to be a prophet. No one is trying to diminish his contribution to science because he himself did not believe in his prophecy.”
An obituary written by Friedman's widow said:
“Excelsior (above) was the motto of his life.
He was tormented by a thirst for knowledge.
Having chosen mechanics, this paradise of mathematical sciences (according to Leonardo da Vinci), he could not limit himself to it and sought and found new branches, studied deeply, in detail and was forever tormented by the insufficiency of his knowledge. “No, I’m ignorant, I don’t know anything, I need to sleep even less, not do anything extraneous, since this whole so-called life is a complete waste of time.” He tormented himself deliberately, because he saw that he did not have enough time to embrace with his gaze the wide horizons that opened up to him when studying a new science. Always ready to modestly learn from anyone who knew more than him, he was aware that in his work he was following new paths, difficult, unexplored by anyone, and he loved to quote the words of Dante: “The waters that I am entering have never been crossed by anyone.”
In 1931, posthumously, Friedman's research was awarded the. V.I. Lenin.
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Creator of the theory of the non-stationary Universe
Alexander Aleksandrovich Fridman(June 16, St. Petersburg - September 16, Leningrad) - Russian and Soviet mathematician and geophysicist, creator of the theory of the non-stationary Universe.
Biography
The first wife of A. A. Fridman (since 1911) is Ekaterina Petrovna Fridman (nee Dorofeeva). The second wife (since 1923) is Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Natalya Evgenievna Fridman (nee Malinina), their son, Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman (1925-1983), was born after his father’s death.
see also
- Friedman (crater)
Links
Notes
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Date of birth: June 16, 1888 Place of birth: St. Petersburg, Russian Empire Date of death: September 16, 1925 Place of death: Leningrad, USSR Nau ... Wikipedia
Encyclopedia "Aviation" Fridman Alexander Alexandrovich Date of birth: June 16, 1888 Place of birth: St. Petersburg, Russian Empire Date of death: September 16, 1925 Place of death: Leningrad, USSR Nau ... Wikipedia
Encyclopedia "Aviation" Fridman Alexander Alexandrovich Date of birth: June 16, 1888 Place of birth: St. Petersburg, Russian Empire Date of death: September 16, 1925 Place of death: Leningrad, USSR Nau ... Wikipedia
Encyclopedia "Aviation" Fridman Alexander Alexandrovich Date of birth: June 16, 1888 Place of birth: St. Petersburg, Russian Empire Date of death: September 16, 1925 Place of death: Leningrad, USSR Nau ... Wikipedia
- A. A. Fridman Fridman Alexander Alexandrovich (18881925) Soviet scientist, one of the creators of modern dynamic meteorology, professor (1918), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1922). Graduated from St. Petersburg University (1910) ... - (1888 1925) Russian mathematician and geophysicist. In 1922, 24 established that Einstein's gravitational equations have nonstationary solutions, which formed the basis of modern cosmology. One of the creators of the modern theory of turbulence and the school of dynamic...
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary Soviet scientist, one of the creators of modern dynamic meteorology. Graduated from St. Petersburg University (1910). In 1913 he began working at the Pavlovsk Aerological Observatory. In 1914 17... ...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia - (1888 1925) Soviet scientist, one of the founders of modern dynamic meteorology, professor (1918), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1922). Graduated from St. Petersburg University (1910). From 1913 he worked at the Pavlovsk Aerological Observatory...
Encyclopedia of technology Genus. May 19, 1866 in St. Petersburg; 1889 graduated from St. Petersburg. Conservatory in the composition class of Rimsky Korsakov. Since 1895 he has been the conductor of the string and brass orchestras. Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, with which in 1897 he traveled to Paris, Rouen, etc. He wrote two... ...
Large biographical encyclopedia - (1888 1925), mathematician and geophysicist. In 1922 1924 he found non-stationary solutions to Einstein's gravitational equations, which formed the basis of the theory of a non-stationary (expanding) Universe. One of the creators of the modern theory of turbulence and domestic... ...
encyclopedic Dictionary
- Stress management for a business person, Alexander Fridman, Yuri Viktorovich Shcherbatykh, Dmitry Alexandrovich Galantsev. Stress management for a business person. Stress management technologies proven in corporate wars, legal battles and tough negotiations. Stress management is a skill...
- , Tropp E.A.. Readers are offered a book about the life and scientific work of the classic of Soviet science A.A. Friedman (1888-1925). A prominent place in it is occupied by a biographical sketch, including a number of...
June 16, 1888 – September 16, 1925
Russian and Soviet mathematician, physicist and geophysicist, creator of the theory of the non-stationary Universe
Biography
Born on June 16, 1888 in St. Petersburg in the family of a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (at that time a student), composer Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman (1866-1909) and a piano teacher (at that time also a student at the conservatory) Lyudmila Ignatievna Fridman (born . Voyachek, 1869-1953). In 1897, when the future scientist was 9 years old, his parents separated and he was subsequently raised in his father’s new family, as well as in the families of his grandfather - medical assistant of the Court Medical District and provincial secretary Alexander Ivanovich Friedman (1839-1910) and his aunt, pianist Maria Alexandrovna Fridman (with his mother A.A. Fridman resumed relations only shortly before his death).
With the outbreak of World War I, Friedman volunteered to join an aviation detachment. In 1914-1917 he participated in the organization of air navigation and aerological services on the Northern and other fronts. Participated as an observer in combat missions.
Friedman was the first in Russia to understand the need to create a domestic aircraft instrument manufacturing industry. During the years of war and devastation, he brought the idea to life, becoming the creator and first director of the Aviapribor plant in Moscow (June 1917).
In 1918-1920 - professor at Perm University. From 1920 he worked at the Main Physical Observatory (from 1924 the Main Geophysical Observatory named after A.I. Voeikov), and at the same time from 1920 he taught at various educational institutions in Petrograd. Since 1923 - editor-in-chief of the Journal of Geophysics and Meteorology. Shortly before his death, he was appointed director of the Main Geophysical Observatory.
Friedman's main works are devoted to the problems of dynamic meteorology (the theory of atmospheric vortices and wind gusts, the theory of discontinuities in the atmosphere, atmospheric turbulence), hydrodynamics of compressible fluid, atmospheric physics and relativistic cosmology. In July 1925, for scientific purposes, he flew in a balloon together with the pilot P.F. Fedoseenko, reaching a record altitude of 7400 m at that time. Friedman was one of the first to master the mathematical apparatus of Einstein’s theory of gravity and began teaching a course in tensor calculus at the university as an introductory part to course of general theory of relativity. In 1923, his book “The World as Space and Time” was published (republished in 1965), introducing the new physics to the general public.
Friedman predicted the expansion of the Universe. The first non-stationary solutions of Einstein's equations obtained by him in 1922-1924 while studying relativistic models of the Universe laid the foundation for the development of the theory of the non-stationary Universe. The scientist studied non-stationary homogeneous isotropic models with a space of positive curvature filled with dust-like matter (with zero pressure). The nonstationarity of the considered models is described by the dependence of the radius of curvature and density on time, and the density varies in inverse proportion to the cube of the radius of curvature. Friedman identified the types of behavior of such models allowed by the gravitational equations, and Einstein's model of a stationary Universe turned out to be a special case. Refuted the opinion that the general theory of relativity requires the assumption of the finiteness of space. Friedman's results demonstrated that Einstein's equations do not lead to a single model of the Universe, no matter what the cosmological constant is. From the model of a homogeneous isotropic Universe it follows that as it expands, a red shift proportional to the distance should be observed. This was confirmed in 1929 by Edwin Hubble based on astronomical observations: the spectral lines in the spectra of galaxies were shifted to the red end of the spectrum.
Friedman died in Leningrad from typhoid fever on September 16, 1925. He was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery.
The first wife of A. A. Fridman (since 1911) is Ekaterina Petrovna Fridman (nee Dorofeeva). The second wife (since 1923) is Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Natalya Evgenievna Fridman (nee Malinina), their son, Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman (1925-1983), was born after his father’s death.
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
In the spring of 1922, the prestigious “Physical Journal” “Zeitschrift fur Physik” (namely, German journals at that time published the latest innovations in world science) published an appeal “To German physicists!” The board of the German Physical Society called on its colleagues to save Russian physicists from many years of severe information hunger: after all, from the very beginning of the First World War, practically no scientific journals arrived in Russia. It was proposed to send publications of recent years to the specified address. Subsequently, they were planned to be sent to Petrograd.
In the same issue of the magazine - two dozen pages below - an article was published sent from Russia. It dealt with Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. The author's name - Alexander Friedman - was unfamiliar to his German colleagues.
Alexander Friedman was born on June 16, 1888 in St. Petersburg in the family of corps de ballet artist of the Imperial St. Petersburg Theaters Alexander Friedman and pianist and conservatory graduate Lyudmila Volchek.
Since childhood, the boy showed extraordinary abilities in the exact sciences. Alexander was still a high school student when his mathematical talent attracted the attention of Academician A. Markov, who advised the child prodigy to enroll in physics and mathematics, which he, incidentally, intended to do himself.
In 1906, Alexander graduated from the Second St. Petersburg Gymnasium with a gold medal and became a student in the mathematics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. During these years, Professor V. Steklov, a brilliant mathematician, an amazingly bright personality, a future academician and vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, transferred to the capital from Kharkov. The Institute of Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences now bears his name.
It was Vladimir Andreevich Steklov who was destined to become Alexander Friedman’s Teacher, his reliable protection and support.
In 1910, A. Friedman and his friend Y. Tamarkin, on the recommendation of Professor Steklov, were left after graduating from the university to prepare for a professorship. The teacher wrote in his petition: “In terms of their abilities and hard work, both of these persons are equivalent and are already giving the impression of young scientists, and not students who have just graduated from the university.”
In 1922, Y. Tamarkin, A. Friedman’s comrade and co-author on several articles, illegally left Soviet Russia, moved to the USA and later taught at Cambridge.
After passing his master's exams in 1913, Friedman went to work at the main physical observatory, which was part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Alexander Alexandrovich then specialized in aerohydrodynamics, and such a “distribution” turned out to be just right. He studied dynamic meteorology with inspiration, trying to describe in mathematical language the chaotic processes that occur in the atmosphere. He described the weather using partial differential equations.
Then there was an internship at the University of Leipzig.
When the First World War began, Alexander Alexandrovich joined the volunteer aviation detachment. He was involved in organizing aerological observations and creating a special aerological service on the Northern and Southwestern fronts, and personally participated in reconnaissance operations, learning to fly an airplane.
A little later, Friedman was invited to teach at an aviator school in Kyiv. From 1917, he lectured at Kiev University, then moved to Moscow and from there to Petrograd.
The war undermined the scientist's health. He was diagnosed with heart disease. Doctors did not recommend the humid Petrograd climate to the patient. And in November 1917, he submitted an application to participate in the competition for the position of professor at the Department of Mechanics at Perm University. Two people applied for one place: Professor A. Leibenzon and Private Associate Professor of the University of St. Vladimir in Kyiv, A. Friedman. The university turned to V. Steklov to give feedback on the scientific work of the second of the applicants. The following characteristic was sent to Perm: “It should be noted Mr. Friedman’s rare ability to work and his general erudition not only on issues of pure and applied mathematics, but also on many issues of theoretical mechanics, physics, meteorology... I consider his involvement as a teacher of mechanics at Perm University very desirable.
In May 1920, Alexander Alexandrovich took academic leave and went to Petrograd. In December, he finally resigned from his duties as professor of mechanics at Perm University. Peter attracted the scientist like a magnet, despite the doctors' prohibitions.
Friedman needed communication with intellectual equals, which he greatly lacked in Perm.
In Petrograd, fate brought Friedman together with Vsevolod Konstantinovich Friederiks. The First World War found this Russian physicist in an enemy power - in Germany, and only the intercession of the outstanding mathematician David Hilbert saved him from a sad fate.
Friederichs was Hilbert's assistant at the University of Göttingen just at the time when Einstein visited there every now and then to discuss with Hilbert the main provisions of the general theory of relativity (GTR) he was creating. Hilbert was one of the first to praise Einstein's theory of gravity, and Friederichs was present.
There were no serious publications on general relativity that excited the entire physical world in post-revolutionary Russia. Only a few popular brochures on this topic have been published. One of them was written by the author of the “theory of the century” himself - Albert Einstein. Its Russian translation was published in 1920 in Berlin, and in the preface to it the great scientist noted: “More than ever in these troubled times, we should take care of everything that can bring together people of different languages and nations. From this point of view, it is especially important to promote a lively exchange of artistic and scientific works even under the current difficult circumstances. Therefore, I am especially pleased that my little book appears in Russian.”
Einstein's original solution to the cosmological problem likened the Universe to a pendulum at rest.
Using general relativity, the great physicist calculated the voltage in the “suspension rod”. Friedman discovered that a suspended load does not necessarily have to be at rest, and using the equations of Einstein’s theory, he calculated exactly what the movement should be.
In other words, having formulated and studied the cosmological problem in a more general case, Alexander Alexandrovich established that within the framework of Einstein’s theory it is essentially unsolvable; more precisely, within the conceptual framework of the latter one can obtain many physically equivalent models-solutions, which does not allow making an unambiguous theoretical choice.
Astronomers, however, did not pay attention to Friedman's theory until Edwin Hubble experimentally discovered the phenomenon of the expansion of the Universe and derived the velocity-distance relationship.
This happened seven years after the publication of the work of a Russian scientist, which indicated the presence of such a dependence.
Friedman himself was no longer alive by that time. He died in 1925 at the age of 37 from typhoid fever.
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Encyclopedia "Aviation"
Seven years later, the following entry appeared in V. Vernadsky’s diary: “A conversation with Verigo about A. A. Friedman. Early deceased M.B. a brilliant scientist, B.B. described him extremely highly to me. Golitsyn in 1915, and then I paid attention to him. And now - in connection with my current work and his idea of an expanding, pulsating Universe - I have read what is available to me. Clear, deep thought of a widely educated, God-given person. According to V., his comrade and friend, he was a charming person, a wonderful comrade. He became friends with him at the front (Verigo in Kyiv, Fridman - an aviator in Gatchina). At the beginning of the Bolshevik rule, Friedman and Tamarkin, his friend, but much lighter than him, were expelled from the University. At one time, Friedman wanted to escape with T. Maybe he would have survived?”
Friedman was a mathematician, a bright star flashing across the physics horizon. The equations he derived turned the density of matter to infinity, the radius of the Universe to zero, and our world to one, the very first point.
Biography
Born: June 4 (16), 1888.
Born on June 16, 1888 in St. Petersburg in the family of a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (at that time a student and artist of the ballet troupe), composer Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman (1866-1909) and a piano teacher (at that time also a student at the conservatory) Lyudmila Ignatievna Friedman (nee Voyachek, 1869-1953). Maternal grandfather, Ignatius Kasparovich Voyachek (1825-1916), was an organist and conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater. In 1897, when the future scientist was 9 years old, his parents separated and he was subsequently raised in his father’s new family, as well as in the families of his grandfather - medical assistant of the Court Medical District and provincial secretary Alexander Ivanovich Friedman (1839-1910) and his aunt, pianist Maria Alexandrovna Fridman (with his mother A.A. Fridman resumed relations only shortly before his death).
He studied at the 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium. During his high school and student years he was interested in astronomy. In October 1905 Friedman together with classmate Yakov Tamarkin, he submitted his first mathematical work to one of the leading scientific journals in Germany, “Mathematical Annals” (“Mathematische Annalen”); an article on Bernoulli numbers was published in 1906. During the revolution of 1905, he participated in political activities, was a member of the Central Committee of the Northern Social Democratic organization of secondary schools in St. Petersburg, and printed proclamations on a hectograph. Friedman's classmate (at the gymnasium, later at the university and graduate school) and friend was Ya. D. Tamarkin, a future famous mathematician, vice-president of the American Mathematical Society. V. I. Smirnov studied a grade higher, in the future also a mathematician, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, author of the popular five-volume “Course of Higher Mathematics”.
After graduating from high school with a gold medal, Friedman in 1906 entered the mathematics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated in 1910. He was left at the Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics by prof. V. A. Steklova for preparation for the professorship. Until the spring of 1913, Friedman studied mathematics, also supervised practical classes at the Institute of Railway Engineers, and lectured at the Mining Institute. Friedman and Tamarkin, while still students, regularly attended classes in the circle of new theoretical physics, organized in 1908 by P. S. Ehrenfest, who had recently arrived from Germany, whom Friedman, like Steklov, considered one of his teachers.
In 1913, he entered the Aerological Observatory in Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg and began to study dynamic meteorology (now this field of science is called geophysical hydrodynamics). In the spring of 1914, he was sent on a business trip to Leipzig, where at that time the famous Norwegian meteorologist Wilhelm Freeman Koren Bjerknes (1862-1951), the creator of the theory of fronts in the atmosphere, lived. In the summer of that year, Friedman flew on airships, taking part in preparations for observing the solar eclipse in August 1914.
With the outbreak of World War I, Friedman volunteered to join an aviation detachment. In 1914-1917, he participated in the organization of air navigation and aerological services on the Northern and other fronts, was a test pilot, participated in combat missions, bombed Przemysl, and conducted aerial reconnaissance. Friedman - Knight of St. George, was awarded a golden weapon and the Order of St. Vladimir with swords and bow. He compiles tables for precision bombing and tests them in battle.
In 1916-1917, Warrant Officer Friedman was in Kyiv, teaching at the Military School of Observer Pilots, giving courses in air navigation and air navigation instruments, and also in charge of the Central Air Navigation Station. He organizes weather service at the front and repairs of aviation navigation instruments in units of the active army. Under the leadership of Friedman, E. Palen, a future famous astronomer, served in the aviation detachment in Lvov and Kyiv.
In Kyiv, Friedman gave several test lectures at the University of St. Vladimir, necessary to obtain the title of privat-docent, and also participated in the activities of the Kyiv Physics and Mathematics Society, becoming its full member.
Friedman was the first in Russia to understand the need to create a domestic aircraft instrument manufacturing industry. During the years of war and devastation, he brought the idea to life, becoming the creator and first director of the Aviapribor plant in Moscow (June 1917).
From April 1918 to 1920, he was a professor at the Department of Mechanics at the newly organized (first as a branch of Petrograd) Perm University.
From August 15 to September 30, 1919, Friedman was the dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Perm University. In 1920, he created three departments and two institutes (geophysical and mechanical) at the faculty.
From July 1919 to May 1920 (simultaneously with the duties of dean) - Vice-Rector of Perm University for Economic Affairs.
In June 1918, Friedman became one of the organizers of the Perm Physics and Mathematics Society (which included about 60 people), became its secretary and organized the publication of the society's works. From spring to mid-August 1919 he was sent to the Yekaterinburg Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory.
In May 1920 he returned to Petrograd. On July 12, 1920, he became a teacher at the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics of the University, worked at the Main Physical Observatory (since 1924 - the Main Geophysical Observatory named after A.I. Voeikov), and at the same time, as a professor at the Department of Applied Aerodynamics, he taught at the newly opened Faculty of Air Communications of the Institute railway engineers. On August 2, 1920, he was elected professor of theoretical mechanics at the Faculty of Physics and Mechanics of the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. In addition, Fridman was attracted by A. N. Krylov, the head of the Maritime Academy, to teach as an adjunct in the department of mechanics of the academy. Friedman also works at the Atomic Commission of the State Optical Institute, where he calculates models of multielectron atoms and conducts research on adiabatic invariants.
Since 1923 - editor-in-chief of the Journal of Geophysics and Meteorology. From July to September 1923, Friedman was on a business trip abroad to Germany and Norway. Another trip abroad, to Holland and Germany, took place in April-May 1924.
On February 5, 1925, shortly before his death, Friedman was appointed director of the Main Geophysical Observatory.
On a honeymoon trip to Crimea with his young wife in July-August 1925, Friedman contracted typhus. He died in Leningrad from undiagnosed typhoid fever due to improperly performed medical procedures on September 16, 1925. According to Friedman himself, he probably contracted typhus by eating an unwashed pear bought at one of the railway stations on the way from Crimea to Leningrad. He was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery.
According to some sources, in 1931 Friedman was posthumously awarded the V.I. Lenin Prize, the authenticity of this is disputed.
Scientific achievements
Friedman's main works are devoted to the problems of dynamic meteorology (the theory of atmospheric vortices and wind gusts, the theory of discontinuities in the atmosphere, atmospheric turbulence), hydrodynamics of compressible fluid, atmospheric physics and relativistic cosmology. In July 1925, for scientific purposes, he flew in a balloon together with the pilot P.F. Fedoseenko, reaching a record altitude of 7400 m for the USSR at that time. Friedman was one of the first to master the mathematical apparatus of Einstein’s theory of gravity and began teaching a course in tensor calculus at the university as introductory part to the course of general theory of relativity. In 1923, his book “The World as Space and Time” was published (republished in 1965), introducing the new physics to the general public.
Friedman gained worldwide fame by creating models of a non-stationary universe, where he predicted, in particular, the expansion of the Universe. The non-stationary solutions of Einstein's equations, obtained by him in 1922-1924 while studying relativistic models of the Universe, laid the foundation for the development of the theory of the non-stationary Universe. The scientist studied non-stationary homogeneous isotropic models with a space of first positive and then negative curvature, filled with dusty matter (with zero pressure). The nonstationarity of the considered models is described by the dependence of the radius of curvature and density on time, and the density varies in inverse proportion to the cube of the radius of curvature. Friedman identified the types of behavior of such models allowed by the gravitational equations, and Einstein's model of a stationary Universe turned out to be a special case. Friedman thus refuted the view that general relativity requires the finiteness of space. Friedman's results demonstrated that Einstein's equations do not lead to a single model of the Universe, no matter what the cosmological constant is. From the model of a homogeneous isotropic Universe it follows that as it expands, a red shift proportional to the distance should be observed. This was confirmed in 1929 by Edwin Hubble based on astronomical observations: the spectral lines in the spectra of galaxies were shifted to the red end of the spectrum. Friedman's theory initially caused sharp rejection on the part of Einstein, but later Einstein admitted the incorrectness of his model of the Universe, calling the cosmological constant (he introduced into the equations as a means of maintaining the stationarity of the Universe) his “biggest scientific mistake.” It is possible, however, that Einstein was wrong in this particular case: dark energy has now been discovered, the properties of which can be described in a model with Einstein’s cosmological constant, although without the assumed stationarity.
Family
First wife (since 1911) - Ekaterina Petrovna Fridman (nee Dorofeeva).
Second wife (since 1923) - Natalya Evgenievna Fridman (nee Malinina), later Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, director of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Their son, Alexander Alexandrovich Fridman (1925-1983), was born after his father’s death.
Selected works
Fridman A. A. On the curvature of space. Z. Phys. 10 (1922), pp. 377-386.
Fridman A. A. Experience in hydromechanics of compressible fluid / Ed., with approx. N. E. Kochina, with add. Art. B. I. Izvekova, I. A. Kibelya, N. E. Kochina. - L.; M.: ONTI State. technical-theoret. publishing house, 1934. - 370 p.
Fridman A. A. The world as space and time. Second edition. - M.: Nauka, 1965.
Fridman A. A. Selected works. Edited by L. S. Polak. M.: Nauka, 1966. Series: Classics of Science. Sections of the collection: hydromechanics of compressible fluid; dynamic meteorology and atmospheric physics; relativistic cosmology; letters; notes; biography; bibliography.
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