Today’s Google Doodle honors Soviet theoretical physicist and Noble Laureate Lev Davidovich Landau, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research into liquid helium’s behaviour at extremely low temperatures.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan on January 22 in 1908, Landau’s work covered all branches of theoretical physics. His wide-ranging research has linked his name to many concepts that he was first to describe including: Landau Levels – which are depicted in the doodle – Landau diamagnetism, Landau damping, and the Landau energy spectrum. His legacy is also kept alive by the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Moscow and a crater on the moon is also named after him!