Igor V. Komarov

Igor V. Komarov
(19.07.1942 - 22.03.2009)
Professor







Igor Vladimirovich Komarov was born on July, 19, 1942 to the family of a military engineer. He entered the Physics Department of Leningrad State University in 1959 and since this moment for all his life was inseparable from his alma mater. After graduation in 1964 from the Quantum Mechanics Division, I.V. Komarov studied three more years in the graduate school and got his PhD in 1969. The range of his research interests was extremely wide, including various problems of theoretical, mathematical and statistical physics as well as quantum field theory. In 1976 he published a monograph “Spheroidal and Coulomb Spheroidal Functions” written in collaboration with L.I. Ponomarev and S.Yu. Slavyanov. This book became a very useful manual for those theorists who investigated the Coulomb three-body systems. In 1983 Igor Vladimirovich got his Doctor of Science degree. This was the time of rapid development of computational methods in theoretical physics. Therefore a Division of Computational Physics was established within the Physics Department. From the very beginning I.V. Komarov was an active member of the new division, and in 1985 he accepted a full professor position there. For ten years (1993 – 2003) he remained the Head of the Computational Physics Division; under his directorship, this division became one of the most successful divisions of the Physics Department, both in research and education. Igor Vladimirovich Komarov was a man of outstanding erudition, and his colleagues often sought his advice on various scientific problems. His knowledge of scientific periodicals was unique and he was always ready to share his experience with everybody who needed it. I.V. Komarov was not only a brilliant scientist but also a talented teacher and paid much attention to the pedagogical work. He considered especially important to popularize the history of physics. For a number of years he delivered lectures on this subject for students of the Physics Department. He also published a book titled “The first in Russia” about the Research Institute of Physics and its centennial history. A brilliant scientist, a talented teacher and a person of great humanity, I.V. Komarov will be always remembered by his colleagues and friends.