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History Department

    The department of Solid State Physics was established in 1937 by B.Y.Pines, who studied under a famous young scientist A.F.Ioffe, well-known for his pioneer works in Structural Analysis and Refractory Physics. B.Y. Pines’ extraordinary talent as a teacher and a scientist and his unique creative personality determined the way of formation and development of the department for many decades.
     In early post-war years the department of Solid State Physics of Kharkov State University was a research center for teachers of educational establishments, scientists, industrial laboratory assistants whose activities were related to basic problems (research) in Solid State Physics. Such distinguished scientists as I.V.Savelyev – an author of a famous General Physics Course, academician B.I.Verkin, Y.S.Borovik and V.G.Hotkevich - associates of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Professor B.N.Yesselson and Professor Y.A.Hindin      worked at the department of Solid State Physics.
     Having at the disposal overage scientific equipment there were conducted a lot of pioneer research in Thermodynamics of Solid Solutions, Sintering Physics, Thin-film Physics and in Surface Physics at the department and the results of those scientific researches became a subject of the international property. Made under Pines’ guidance constructions of fine-focus X-ray tubes and of high-temperature electron-diffractions were used in many laboratories of the Former USSR and Pines’ “Lectures on Structural Analysis” that went through three editions reckon among the best training aids for Courses  on X-ray Diffraction by Crystals.
     Professor A.F. Sirenko followed B.Y. Pines and he accepted the call to chair of solid state Physics after B.Y.Pines. In the 70-80’s we could see further development in various fields of Physical Science at the department, in particular, in Physics of hardness and plasticity and in Physics of surface and relaxation phenomena, there were carried out successful researches so they were applied in industry in Kharkov and Moscow (Kharkov tractor plant, OJSC "Turboatom", etc.). There were defended three doctoral and 30 Ph.D. thesis at the department and many specialists were trained there for Europe, Asia, Africa, North and Latin America.
     Z. Zyman who is a direct (close) B.Y. Pines’s student showed new perspectives for the department future development. He created a new scientific direction “Physics in biomaterials” that is on the upswing and he contributed greatly to opening a new specialty “Solid State Physics”. Two training manuals were published under licence of Department of Education and Science of Ukraine (Zyman Z.Z. and Sirenko A.F. (2005) Basic Physics in materials; Zyman Z.Z. (2008) Fundamental of X-ray diffraction by Crystals) and they are main sources of information for lecturing most of scientific disciplines at the department. In short period the department of Solid State Physics occupied leading place in formation (creation), investigation and development of new bioactive materials for orthopedic surgery and their practical application in medicine. Traditional scientific subject of the department is in good progress too, in particular, in the matter of the relationship between structures, mechanical and diffusive properties and relaxation behavior of solids.