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Vitaly Ginzburg, born in 1916, Russian physicist and cowinner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in physics for his theories on the properties of superconductors (metals and other substances that conduct electricity without resistance). Although originally proposed in the 1950s, the theories of Ginzburg and his colleagues continue to anchor modern advances in superconducting technology. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines widely used in medical diagnosis and the high-energy accelerators used by physicists to hunt for subatomic particles are just two of the applications that owe at least a partial debt to Ginzburg’s theories.

Born in Moscow, Russia, Ginzburg received his doctoral degree in physics from Moscow State University in 1938. He began working at the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow in 1940 and became the head of its Theory Group. He remained at the institute for the duration of his career.

By the early 1950s, scientists were familiar with the phenomenon of superconductivity. This is the capacity of some compounds, when cooled to temperatures near absolute zero, -273.15°C (-459.67°F), to carry electricity with none of the resistance seen in conventional conductors. At the time, however, theoretical explanations for superconductivity were still lacking. Ginzburg, with colleague Lev Landau, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1962, proposed key theories to explain the relation between electrons and the magnetic field inside superconductors.

Ginzburg and Landau noted that some superconductors repel a magnetic field and they termed this class of superconductor Type I. Ginzburg also theorized, however, that other types of superconductors would be able to function in the presence of a magnetic field under certain conditions. Ultimately, Russian-born physicist Alexei A. Abrikosov, building on the Ginzburg-Landau theories, described more fully this second class of superconductor, now called Type II. Modern superconductors, including the ceramic varieties that function at higher temperatures, are Type II. Ongoing research in superconductivity is expected to find application in the design of generators and engines, in improved transmission of electrical power over long distances, and other uses.

Ginzburg shared his 2003 Nobel Prize with Abrikosov and with Anthony J. Leggett, a British-born American physicist who made essential theoretical breakthroughs in describing a related phenomenon known as superfluidity.