This list of Russian physicists includes the famous physicists from the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

Alphabetical list

A

• Alexei Abrikosov, discovered how magnetic flux can penetrate a superconductor (the Abrikosov vortex), Nobel Prize winner
• Franz Aepinus, related electricity and magnetism, proved the electric nature of pyroelectricity, explained electric polarization and electrostatic induction, invented achromatic microscope
• Zhores Alferov, inventor of modern heterotransistor, Nobel Prize winner
• Sergey Alekseenko, director of the Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, Global Energy Prize recipient
• Artem Alikhanian, a prominent researcher of cosmic rays, inventor of wide-gap track spark chamber
• Abram Alikhanov, nuclear physicist, a prominent researcher of cosmic rays, built the first nuclear reactors in the USSR, founder of Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
• Semen Altshuler, researched EPR and NMR, predicted acoustic paramagnetic resonance
• Lev Artsimovich, builder of the first tokamak, researcher of high temperature plasma
• Gurgen Askaryan, predicted self focusing of light, discovered Askaryan effect in the particle physics

  

B

• Nikolay Basov, physicist, co-inventor of laser and maser, Nobel Prize winner
• Nikolay Bogolyubov, mathematician and theoretical physicist, co-developed the BBGKY hierarchy, formulated a microscopic theory of superconductivity, suggested a triplet quark model, introduced a new quantum degree of freedom (color charge)
• Matvei Petrovich Bronstein, theoretical physicist, a pioneer of quantum gravity, author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology.
• Gersh Budker, inventor of electron cooling, co-inventor of collider

C

• Sergey Chaplygin, a founder of aero- and hydrodynamics, formulated the Chaplygin's equations and Chaplygin gas concept

  

• Pavel Cherenkov, discoverer of Cherenkov radiation, Nobel Prize winner

D

• Yuri Denisyuk, inventor of 3D holography

F

• Ludvig Faddeev, discoverer of Faddeev–Popov ghosts and Faddeev equations in quantum physics
• Georgy Flyorov, nuclear physicist, one of the initiators of the Soviet atomic bomb project, co-discoverer of seaborgium and bohrium, founder of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
• Vladimir Fock, developed the Fock space, Fock state and the Hartree–Fock method in quantum mechanics
• Ilya Frank, explained the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation, Nobel Prize winner
• Vsevolod Frederiks (Fréedericksz), discovered the Fréedericksz transition, the Fréedericksz critical field in liquid crystals
• Yakov Frenkel, coined the term electron hole, discovered the Frenkel defect of a crystal lattice, described the Poole–Frenkel effect in solid-state physics

G

• Andre Geim, inventor of graphene, developer of gecko tape, Nobel Prize winner and at the same time Ig Nobel Prize winner for diamagnetic levitation of a living frog
• Vitaly Ginzburg, co-author of the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity, a developer of hydrogen bomb, Nobel Prize winner
• Vladimir Gribov, introduced pomeron, DGLAP equations and Gribov ambiguity
• Aleksandr Gurevich, author of the runaway breakdown theory of lightning

I

• Abram Ioffe, founder of the Soviet physics school, tutor of many prominent scientists
• Dmitri Ivanenko, pioneered the modelling of nuclear shell and nuclear forces, predicted synchrotron radiation, suggested the quark stars existence

  

J

• Boris Jacobi, formulated the Maximum power theorem in electrical engineering, invented electroplating, electrotyping, galvanoplastic sculpture and electric boat

K

• Pyotr Kapitsa, originated the techniques for creating ultrastrong magnetic fields, co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus discovered superfluidity, Nobel Prize winner
• Yuly Khariton, chief designer of the Soviet atomic bomb, co-developer of the Tsar Bomb
• Orest Khvolson, first to study the Chwolson ring effect of gravitational lensing
• Nicolai Kopnin, Simon Memorial Prize winner for his work on the forces acting on quantum vortices in superfluids and superconductors
• Sergey Krasnikov, developer of the Krasnikov tube, a speculative mechanism for space travel

  

• Igor Kurchatov, builder of the first nuclear power plant, developer of the first nuclear reactors for surface ships

L

• Lev Landau, theoretical physicist, developed the Ginzburg–Landau theory of superconductivity, explained the Landau damping in plasma physics, pointed out the Landau pole in quantum electrodynamics, co-author of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics, Nobel Prize winner
• Grigory Landsberg, co-discoverer of Raman scattering of light
• Mikhail Lavrentyev, physicist and mathematician, founded the Siberian Division of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and Akademgorodok in Novosibirsk
• Pyotr Lebedev, the first to measure the radiation pressure on a solid body, thus proving the Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism
• Heinrich Lenz, discovered the Lenz's law of electromagnetism
• Aleksandr Il'ich Leipunskii, pioneered the development of fast breeder reactors in the USSR.
• Evgeny Lifshitz, an author of the BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution, co-author of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics

  

• Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist, artist and inventor, proposed the law of conservation of matter, disproved the phlogiston theory
• Oleg Losev, inventor of light-emitting diode and crystadine

M

• Alexander Makarov, inventor of orbitrap
• Boris Mamyrin, inventor of reflectron
• Leonid Mandelshtam, co-discoverer of the Raman effect
• Stanislav Mikheyev, co-discoverer of the Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect of neutrino oscillations

N

• Konstantin Novoselov, inventor of graphene, developer of gecko tape, Nobel Prize winner

O

• Yuri Oganessian, nuclear physicist in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), co-discoverer of the heaviest elements in the periodic table; element Oganesson

P

• Vasily Petrov, discoverer of electric arc, proposed arc lamp and arc welding
• Boris Podolsky, an author of EPR Paradox in quantum physics
• Alexander Polyakov, developed the concepts of Polyakov action, 't Hooft–Polyakov monopole and BPST instanton
• Isaak Pomeranchuk, predicted synchrotron radiation
• Bruno Pontecorvo, a founder of neutrino high energy physics, his work led to the discovery of PMNS matrix
• Alexander Popov, inventor of lightning detector, one of the inventors of radio, recorded the first experimental radiolocation at sea
• Victor Popov, co-discoverer of Faddeev–Popov ghosts in quantum field theory
• Alexander Prokhorov, co-inventor of laser and maser, Nobel Prize winner

  

R

• Georg Wilhelm Richmann, inventor of electrometer, pioneer researcher of atmospheric electricity, killed by a ball lightning in experiment

S

• Andrei Sakharov, co-developer of tokamak and the Tsar Bomb, inventor of explosively pumped flux compression generator, Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Nikolay Semyonov, physical chemist, co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
• Lev Shubnikov, discoverer of Shubnikov–de Haas effect, one of the first researchers of solid hydrogen and liquid helium
• Dmitri Skobeltsyn, first to use cloud chamber for studying cosmic rays, the first to observe positrons
• Alexei Smirnov, co-discoverer of Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect of neutrino oscillations
• Arseny Sokolov, co-discoverer of Sokolov–Ternov effect, a developer of synchrotron radiation theory
• Mark Stockman, optical physicist, co-discoverer of spaser^[1]
• Aleksandr Stoletov, inventor of photoelectric cell, built the Stoletov curve and pioneered the research of ferromagnetism

T

• Igor Tamm, explained the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation, co-developer of tokamak, Nobel Prize winner
• Karen Ter-Martirosian, theoretical physicist, known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, founder of the Elementary Particle Physics chair of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
• Igor Ternov, co-discoverer of Sokolov–Ternov effect of synchrotron radiation

U

• Nikolay Umov, discovered the Umov-Poynting vector and Umov effect, the first to propose the formula ${\displaystyle E=kmc^{2))$
• Petr Ufimtsev, developed the theory that led to modern stealth technology

V

• Sergey Vavilov, co-discoverer of Cherenkov radiation, formulated the Kasha–Vavilov rule of quantum yields

  

• Vladimir Veksler, inventor of synchrophasotron, co-inventor of synchrotron
• Evgeny Velikhov, leader of the international program ITER (thermonuclear experimental tokamak)
• Anatoly Vlasov, developed the Vlasov equation in plasma physics

Y

• Alexey Yekimov, discoverer of quantum dots

Z

• Yevgeny Zavoisky, inventor of EPR spectroscopy, co-developer of NMR spectroscopy
• Yakov Zel'dovich, physicist and cosmologist, predicted the beta decay of a pi meson and the muon catalysis, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion

  

• Nikolai Zhukovsky, a founder of aero- and hydrodynamics, the first to study airflow, author of Joukowsky transform and Kutta–Joukowski theorem, founder of TsAGI and pioneer of aviation