Lev Landau: Google doodle on versatile physicist on his 111th birth anniversary

Lev Davidovich Landau, one of the world's greatest and most versatile physicists, was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Russia on January 22, 1908. He studied physics at Baku University and in Leningrad and graduated in 1927. From 1929-31, he visited various centers in Europe, including Gottingen, the Bohr Institute at Copenhagen and then Cambridge University to work with Paul Dirac.

On his return in 1932, he became head of the theoretical division at the Ukrainian Institute at Kharkov, establishing the first school of theoretical physics in the former Soviet Union, which soon received international reputation. In 1937, the eminent Russian physicist, Peter Kapitza who was then the director of the Institute for Physical Problems in Moscow, persuaded Landau to head the theory division at the Institute.

Landau's work spans a very wide range and has had a considerable impact on all areas of physics including condensed matter physics, plasma, high energy and particle physics, fluid dynamics, astrophysics, gravitation, elasticity, etc.

Along with his former fellow student, E Lifshitz, he wrote the set of a dozen volumes, the magnificent world-renowned 'Course of Theoretical Physics' which covered topics ranging from mechanics, classical theory of fields, quantum mechanics, electrodynamics of continuous media, fluid dynamics, kinetic theory, theory of elasticity, statistical physics and more.