Our Universe can be described mathematically by a simple model devel- oped in 1922 at Petrograd (St. Petersburg) by Alexander Friedmann (1888-1925), who predicted, before there was any observational evidence, that the whole Universe would expand and evolve with time. He was an outstanding Soviet physicist, and this vivid biography is set against a wide historical background. The book is a window on his school and university years, military service, and teaching and research during a seminal period of Soviet history. The authors include unique archival material, such as Friedmann's letters from the Front, as well as contemporary records and reminiscences of colleagues. There is a detailed treatment of his work in theoretical cosmology (1922-24), set in the context of the organization of Soviet science at the time. ALEXANDER A. FRIEDMANN: THE MAN WHO MADE THE UNIVERSE EXPAND ALEXANDER A. FRIEDMANN THE MAN WHO MADE THE UNIVERSE EXPAND EDUARD A. TROPP VIKTOR Ya. FRENKEL and ARTUR D. CHERNIN Translated by ALEXANDER DRON and MICHAEL BUROV CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521384704 © Cambridge University Press 1993 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1993 This digitally printed first paperback version 2006 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Tropp, E. A. (Eduard Abramovich) [Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Fridman. English] Alexander A. Friedmann: the man who made the universe expand / by Eduard A. Tropp, Viktor Ya. Frenkel, and Artur D. Chernin; translated by Alexander Dron and Michael Burov, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-38470-2 1. Fridman, A. A. (Aleksandr Aleksandrovich), 1888-1925. 2. Cosmology. 3. Physicists — Soviet Union — Biography. 4. Astrophysics — Soviet Union — Biography. I. Frenkel, Viktor IAkovlevich. II. Chernin, A. D. (Artur Davidovich). III. Title. QC16.F73T7613 1993 530'.092-dc20 [B] 92-28315 CIP ISBN-13 978-0-521-38470-4 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-38470-2 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-02588-1 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-02588-5 paperback Contents Preface page ix 1 The Friedmanns and the Voyacheks 1 2 At the 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium 12 3 University years, 1906-14 28 4 In search of a way 58 5 War years 68 6 Moscow-Perm-Petrograd 86 7 Theoretical department of the Main Geophysical Observatory 97 8 Space and time 114 9 Geometry and dynamics of the Universe 144 10 Petrograd, 1920-24 176 11 The final year 194 12 Friedmann's world 215 Conclusion 254 Main dates in Friedmann's life and work 256 Bibliography 258 Name index 262 vn Preface This book came out in Russian in 1988, the centenary of the birth of Alexander Friedmann, an outstanding Soviet scientist. The anniversary was widely marked by the scientific community with national and inter- national conferences and symposia dedicated to this event as a tribute to the enormous contribution A. A. Friedmann made to the development of hydrodynamics, meteorology and, particularly, relativistic cosmology. Very little has been written about Friedmann. The present book is the first detailed biography of the scientist. The material is generally given chronologically and is based on the scientific works of Friedmann, docu- mentary records and reminiscences by his contemporaries published in the late 1920s. The book also includes unpublished reminiscences about Alexander Friedmann. The division of the work between the authors was as follows: Chapters 1-3, 5, 6 and 10, as well as the last section of Chapter 9, have been written by V. Ya. Frenkel; Chapters 4, 7 and 11 by E. A. Tropp; Chapters 8, 9 and 12 by A. D. Chernin. Given this clear division, in some chapters the material is presented in the first person singular. As to the method of citation, given that the book is popular science, the authors decided not to overburden it with footnotes. Quotations are either from archives or from the literature given at the end of the book. The authors would like to thank the staff workers of the Leningrad archives for their assistance. We are grateful to Professor G. A. Grinberg and Professor L. G. Loitsyansky, and also to S. Ye. Malinina, O. N. Trapeznikova and A. B. Shekhter who shared their reminiscences with us. We owe much important information to Ye. B. Belodubrovsky, A. S. Korovchenko, L. V. Rukhovets, Ye. S. Selezneva and I. I. Shakura. We would like to thank Professor A. A. Grib and Professor V. V. Ivanov for reading the manuscript and making valuable suggestions. IX x Preface We are glad that the book is finally coming out in English. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor M. Demianski and Pro- fessor M. S. Longair whose kind attention made this English edition possible.