Alexander Sergeevitch Alexandrov
Alexander Sergeevitch Alexandrov, a condensed matter theorist who was well known for his extensive contributions to the theory of superconductivity, physics of polarons, and other topics, died of a heart attack on 14 August 2012 in Campinas, Brazil.
Alexandrov was born on 30 July 1946. He did his PhD thesis with Vladimir Elesin as his advisor on quantum transport in semiconductors in 1973. Soon after, he became interested in superconductivity, where he is well known for developing the bipolaron theory. His first highly cited work on bipolarons in superconductors was done with colleagues in Grenoble in 1980 during his yearly stay in France. These ideas inspired the Nobel laureates JG Bednorz and KA Muller in their successful search for high-Tc superconductivity in cuprates. In 1984 AS Alexandrov obtained his second (Dr.Sci.) degree and soon became a Vice Rector of MEPhI.
Towards the end of the Soviet Union, AS Alexandrov moved as a guest scientist to Germany where he published a few seminal papers on bipolaronic superconductivity and on the Kohn-Luttinger mechanism of superconductivity. In 1992 he moved to Cambridge, UK, where he started a very fruitful collaboration with Sir Nevill Mott. During this period, together with N. Mott he published the pseudogap bipolaron theory and predicted a positive curvature of the upper critical field in bosonic superconductors. In 1995 he moved to Loughborough University of Technology as professor and Chair of theoretical physics and later served as Head of the Physics Department there.
AS Alexandrov’s main focus was on superconductivity, especially on the mechanisms of high-Tc superconductivity. He was a strong proponent of a decisive role of strong electron-phonon coupling [EPC] and the (bi)polaronic mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity. His deep critical analysis of many popular models of superconductivity and strongly correlated systems has generated a lot of interest and lively discussion.
AS Alexandrov collaborated with many groups worldwide and kept in touch with his colleagues and former students. He never hesitated to take on new challenging topics that arose during his collaboration with, for instance, colleagues at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories (AB) on topics like colossal magnetoresitance in manganites, molecular switches, memristors, etc.
AS Alexandrov was an exceptionally productive researcher and an educator, as illustrated by his 7 books over 200 peer-reviewed papers published. He powered ahead at full speed trying to cover as much ground as possible in his field. Sasha was very conscious that his time was limited. He won worldwide recognition as indicated by a large number of plenary and invited talks at international conferences, seminars and colloquia.
In addition to being a bright thinker and scientist, Sasha was a lively, approachable and very likeable person, not a frequent combination. With self-deprecating humour he could discuss all kinds of odd adventures he got in, be it driving along German autobahns in an old Soviet-built car, or an unsuccessful fishing trip off the Pacific coast. He was typically in good spirits, cheerful, and ready to help. Sasha will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and colleagues.
