Journal of Physical Studies 26(3), Article 3001 [24 pages] (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30970/jps.26.3001

SAMUIL KAPLAN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASTROPHYSICAL RESEARCH AT THE LVIV UNIVERSITY (DEDICATED TO HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY)

M. Vavrukh1 , N. Virun1, B. Hnatyk2 , Yu. Kulinich1 , B. Melekh1 , B. Novosyadlyj1 , O. Petruk3 , R. Plyatsko3 , M. Tsizh1 

1Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,
2Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv,
3Pidstryhach Institute for Applied Problems of Mechanics and Mathematics, NAS of Ukraine

Received 21 January 2022; accepted 21 June 2022; published online 10 August 2022

Samuil Kaplan (1921-1978) was a productive and famous astrophysicist. He was affiliated with a number of scientific centers in different cities of the former Soviet Union. During the earliest 13 years of his career, namely in 1948-1961, he worked at the Lviv University in Ukraine. In the present paper, the Lviv period of his life and scientific activity is described on the basis of archival materials and his published studies. Kaplan arrived in Lviv in June 1948, the same month when he obtained the degree of the Candidate of Science. He was a head of the astrophysics sector at the Astronomical Observatory of the University, a professor of the department for theoretical physics, as well as the founder and head of a station for optical observations of artificial satellites of the Earth. He was active in the organization of an astronomical observatory outside the city. During the years in Lviv, Kaplan wrote more than 80 articles and 3 monographs in 9 areas. At that time, his focus was on the stability of circular orbits in the Schwarzschild field, on the white dwarf theory, on space gas dynamics, on cosmic plasma physics and turbulence, on the acceleration of cosmic rays, on the physics of interstellar medium, on the physics and evolution of stars, on cosmology and gravitation, and on the optical observations of the Earth's artificial satellites. Some of his findings are fundamental to the development of theory in those fields as well as of observational techniques. The paper presents a complete bibliography of Kaplan's works published during the Lviv period and reviews his respective scientific achievements in the light of the current state of research in those areas.

Key words: black holes, white dwarfs, cosmic gas dynamics, interstellar medium, cosmic rays, physics and evolution of stars, cosmology, artificial satellites of the Earth, history of science.

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