I mention here N.N. Bogolyubov, L.D. Landau, P.L. Kapitza, A.A. Abrikosov, V.L. Ginzburg, J. Bardeen, and K.A. Muller. I presented the essence of their results on the way to a better understanding the superconductivity (six of them have received the Nobel Prize). I have selected various interesting episodes from their biographies. I have supplemented all this with my personal observations from numerous, meetings with them. I have been interested in theory of superconductivity since 1958, when I arrived at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. I arrived there in order to work under direction of the physicist and mathematician Professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolyubov. At the time he was the Director of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics JINR. My arrival in Dubna was a consequence of the fact that in 1956 I have received Ph.D. for the dissertation, which provided a broad generalization of the ideas of Prof N.N. Bogolyubov devoted to the many-body theory. Namely, he introduced the so-called supplementary variables, in order to describe in a more efficient way, the system of interacting electrons in metals. I generalized this idea and considered together electrons and crystal–lattice ions. I presented quite new approach to the theory of metallic bond in metals. My supervisor, Prof. R.S. Ingarden, when visiting Laboratory Kharkov (Ukraine), has learned about the Bogolyubov ideas and copied by hand the Bogolyubov paper containing about 60 pages. During the period of preparations of my thesis I studied other Bogolyubov papers and presented them at a seminar in our Theoretical Physics Department. Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolyubov (1909–1992), Ukrainian, attended the school in Kiev where he lived with a Polish family. Because of this situation he understood Polish and liked Polish people. Knowing my interest in the Bogolyubov work, Prof. Rzewuski took steps towards organizing my long-term visit to Dubna after the end of his stay there. Bogolyubov’s father was an orthodox-rite priest and later, professor of theology. When Nikolai Nikolaevich was 13 years old he already attended in Kiev seminars in the Department of Mathematical Physics, directed then by well known mathematician Prof. N.N. Krylov. His first scientific paper, with Krylov, was published in 1925, i.e. at the age of 15. As the son of a priest (who was arrested without any accusation and died very soon later), he could not study at “Soviet” Universities. Fortunately, he worked scientifically and in 1930 received his Ph.D. in Mathematics (at the age of 21). As we see, he had no formal university studies. Since 1965, N.N. Bogolyubov was the Director of JINR. At
Read full abstract