Annually, research scientists of the Lebedev Physical Institute publish about 20 monographs, approximately 1500 papers in Russian ] and foreign journals, conference reports. Three LPl physicists have, j by the data of www.scientific.ru, extremely high citation indices over j 22 years: 18640 (V.L Ginzburg), 16066 (V.V. Zakharov), 13525 (AAj Tseitlin).

These high citation indices of modern LPI works are associated j with their topicality and the significance of obtained results

The Division of Theoretical Physics, whose research scientists woric in almost all fields of physics, stands out among the scientific divisions of the Physical Institute. The works by the veteran of the Division, Nobelist V.L. Ginzburg, predicted the existence of thermoelectric phenomena in superconductors, developed the phenomenological theory of ferroelectric phenomena, created the phenomenological theory of superconductivity and superfluidity of liquid helium, developed the theory of crystalline effects with account of spatial dispersion, established the criterion of applicability of Landau theory of second-order phase transitions, indicated the feasibility of high-temperature superconductivity in laminated systems owing to electron-exciton interaction, developed the theory of radio wave propagation in plasma, investigated the nonlinear effect of high-power radio waves on the ionosphere - this is far from a complete list of impressive results obtained by one man.

The research scientists of the Division have since long and successfully dealt with fundamental issues of quantum field theory and the theory of superstrings - a promising direction of theoretical physics, the goal of which is to create a unified theory of fundamental interactions. In particular, the functional formulation of quantum field theory and quantum statistics was developed within the framework of this direction (E.S. Fradkin). Universal methods for quantization of gauge theories were constructed (Batalin, Vilkovysky, Tyutin, Fradkin). A Sigma model approach to the description of low-energy dynamics of strings was proposed (Fradkin, Tseitlin). The theory of highest-spin gauge fields was developed (Fradkin, Vasilyev). One of the significant achievements of recent years in string theory was the work by R.R. Metsaev "Type UB Green-Schwarz superstring in plane wave Ramond-Ramond background". Metsaev constructed the first example of a quantum superstring in distorted spacetime in the presence of Ramond-Ramond fields. Quantization of superstrings in Ramond fields is of paramount significance for real​izing the program of the string description of gauge fields' nonperturbative dynamics, which can lead to an alternative method of describing hadrons. The work by Metsaev received more than 500 citations since 2003.

In the late 1950s - early 1960s, L.V. Keldysh carried out a series of fundamental works on interband elastic and inelastic tunnelling of carriers in semiconductors, which immediately brought him world fame. Keldysh for the first time suggested to use spatially periodic fields to forml artificial spectra of crystals due to additional Bragg reflections caused byj such fields. Subsequently this idea was realized in the development ofj artificial superlattices. One of the phenomena he predicted - the shift ofj the edge of absorption in crystals when an electric field is applied - was] called the Franz-Keldysh effect. To describe the states and kinetics of strongly inequilibrium quantum systems, LV. Keldysh developed a special diagramj technique. He constructed the theory of metal-dielectric phase transition! emerging in semiconductors and semimetals due to exciton instability An! absolutely new phenomenon of condensation of excitons into mobile drops! of quantum electron-hole liquid was predicted and described theoretically.} Subsequently it was detected experimentally Of great importance for laser physics was the theory oi multiphoton ionization of atoms in the field of an intensive electromagnetic wave.

Extreme ocean waves (freak, rogue or killer waves) exceeding the root-mean-square height of a wave several timesare rather dangerous both for ships and for stationary constructions, for instance, oil platforms. Academician V.E.| Zakharov developed the theory of the emergence of extreme waves, based on the numerical solution of exact equa- tions of hydrodynamics. Extreme waves were shown to be the result of the development of a modulation instabilityl of stationary running "Stokes waves", which break down into solitons of the envelopes and lead to the emergence of  a "solution turbulence". With a known degree of probability these inelas-| tically interacting solitons run into one another to form scarce solitonsj of greater inten​sity, which gener​ate extreme waves. The times of this process are tens of inverse increments of instability

In 2001-2005, the Laboratory of Solar X-ray Astronomy of the Division of Optics carried out a cycle of studies of active processes in the Sun in the maximum and in the phase of decay of the 23rd cycle of solar activity. The studies were performed using SPIRIT-SPR-N - a unique set of equipment developed at the Laboratory and installed onboard the satellite CORONAS-F being in the low-earth orbit from 31 July 2001 up to December 2005. The LPI's set of instruments SPIRIT-SPR-N consisted of a solar X-ray telescope SRT-K, X-ray spectroheliograph RES-K and solar X-ray spectropolarimeter SPR-N and was intended for studies of the Sun by methods of imaging spectroscopy and polarimetry in the ultrasoft (XUV) and soft X-ray ranges of the spectrum. The SPIRIT Complex consisted of 11 operated in parallel optical channels giving full Sun images, and has had no analogues in solar X-ray astronomy till now. By the spectral band width (from 0.04 to 6.6 keV), high spatial (up to 3"), spectral (up to 210^) and temporal (up to 7 s) resolution, flexibility and functionality of control, the SPIRIT instrumentation is much more advanced and significantly complements the potential of the currently operated foreign space complexes, in particular, the instruments in the European observatory SOHO. The SPIRIT instrumentation was developed taking into account the experience and results of LPI's previous experiments, scientific goals of the CORONAS project and the need to carry out observations both at the maximal and minimal solar activity within a broad dynamic range of brightnesses from powerful flares to quiet corona. During the experiment, 23174 sessions of observations were carried out, which gave 377260 shots, including more than 1 million images of the Sun in particular wavelengths. The electronic archive of information obtained over 4.5 years of the experiment is about 1 terabyte.

The LPI performs a large volume of experimental works in CERN at the world's most high-power accelerator - the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ATLAS is one of the two largest experiments on the LHC, which are aimed to study the fundamental properties of matter at superhigh energies. The main taslcs of thie experiment are the search for the Higgs boson determining ttie masses of particles, search for supersymmetrical particles, studies of the possibility of the existence of additional dimensions, verification of the parameters of the Standard Model. For the ATLAS experiment, LPFs research scientists in cooperation with other Russian and foreign groups developed a track detector of transient radiation, TRT The TRT tracker contains 370,000 channels of information about the parameters of particles originating in proton-proton collisions. When developing the TRT tracker, some technological methods as well as special computer programs were worked out, which can be used in various industries: high-precision constructions from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with unique mechanical properties; multilayer printed circuit boards with high degree of integration; optical communication lines with high information transfer rates; high-speed computer programs providing for the refreshment of spatial images against the background of large uploads in tomography It should be noted that the very concept of the TRT as a drastically new method of registering charged particles was proposed and comprehensively studied in the 1980s by 2 group of LPI and MEPhI research scientists based on the theory of transient radia tion created by V.L. Ginzburg and I.M. Frank.

The SHALON mirror gamma telescope at the Tien-Shan High-altitude Scientific Station of the Lebedev Physical Institute was used for studies of metagalactic sources Markarian 421, Markarian 501, NGC 1275,3C454.3,1739+522 and galactic sources the Crab Nebula, Cygnus X-3, Tycho Brahe, Geminga, 2129+47XR. Detailed analysis of the directions of incidence of gamma avalanches revealed the presence of a new source of gamma rays at a distance of -10 min from NGC 1275. By its coordinates, this source coincides with the supernova SN 2006gy newly bursting beyond the limits of our Galaxy

The Division of Solid State Physics, in studies of a two-dimensional strongly interacting electronic system on the surface of Si, using variation of the conductance with a magnetic field and electron-electron interaction, revealed the agreement of experiment with theory predicting the existence of a metal-dielectric quantum phase transition. These results cardinally change the earlier established views of the impossibility of the metallic state as the main state in two-dimensional systems.

A new type of electron ordering characterized by a toroidal moment was predicted. A significant feature of this state observed in crystals and heterostructures is an abnormally high magnetoelectric effect.

It was shown that the mutual effect of dielectric and superconducting correlations leading to a periodic distribution of superfluid density and an increase of the temperature of the superconducting transition proved to be cmcial in search for high-temperature superconductors and in explanation of their properties. Fundamental research at the Lebedev Physical Institute is closely inter-twined with applied works. Many fundamental studies are brought to concrete developments, a reasonable balance being preserved between applied and fundamental aspects. As a consequence, innovation activities develop successfully, there are many scientific developments in demand, especially in laser technologies, nanoelectronics, high-current electronics, in the creation of unique medical installations, in scientific instrument making. Consistent policy of protecting intellectual property is being carried out, a large number of LPI developments are protected by patents and introduced into industrial use. In 2008, works have begun on the creation of the Troitsk Science Park of the Lebedev Physical Institute - a property complex created for studies in the field of high technologies and consisting of office buildings, production facilities and infrastructural assets. Residents of various origins will be present in the Science Park - small innovation enterprises, scientific organizations, design bureaus, educational institutions, organizations of innovative infrastructure, production enterprises or their departments etc. The subject matter of works at the Science Park includes scientific instrument making, optoelectronics, laser technology, including R&D of components and semiproducts for it, materials science and development of novel materials.

Based on new engineering and technical solutions, the Physico-technical Centre of the Lebedev Physical Institute developed a cheap, economical and compact proton instailation for radiation thierapy of oncological diseases. By its characteristics, this unit is much more advanced than the other complexes existing in the world. Of fundamental importance is its low power consumption, small size and low capital investment for erecting radiation-safe facilities, which makes possible broad replication of the unit and its assembling in almost any regional clinic with an oncological division. The developed facility is to replace electron accelerators broadly used in world oncology and currently purchased by Russia abroad.

To solve fundamental and applied problems, compact generators of picosecond electron beams with air accelerator pipes, providing for particle energy of up to 10^ electron volts were developed and created in cooperation with the Institute of Electrophysics of the Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was shown that a relativistic electron beam of no more than tens of picoseconds in duration and with a charge of up to one nanocoulomb could be formed in the air interelectrode gap with an inhomogeneous accelerating field. Injection of a beam was found to be initiated by autoelectronic emission, the regime of continuous acceleration of electrons in gas passage was proved in real-time experiments.

The Division of Quantum Radiophysics developed the principles of creating a 3D display with a new electrooptical information carrier formed from nanostructured polymer-liquid-crystalline composite layers with a smectic-type ferroelectric liquid crystal, which has a several times higher response as compared with a choleristic-nematic liquid medium. As an information carrier, it was suggested to use the semiconductor laser beam deviated using a compact acoustooptical deflector in the plane of the modulator on which light scattering is switched on by an electric signal. A functional experimental mock-up of a monochrome 3D display was created. The creation of a 3D display as the move from a black-and-white to colour videoimage, is one of the most topical directions in the development of new-generation information imaging means. Three-dimensional displays can be the most efficient in aero and space navigation and in medicine, for instance, in computer tomography where 3D images can be formed by the electronic data of tomographic cross sections, and at that, in real ti (four-dimensional diagnostics). Other possible and important applications are visualization of data in biology, geophysii and seismic sun^eys; modelling of three-dimensional fields, stresses, constructions designs; 3D graphics, computer games advertizing.

At the Division of Nuclear Physics am Astrophysics, the space-coherent property of X-pinch as a source of radiation are used to produce X-ray images of weakly absorbing biological objects by phase-contrast methods. First experiments on the radiography of objects were carria out using emission in the hard region (rf the spectrum (with wavelengths shorter than 1 Â). X-pinch was studied as a source of X-ray radiation in the hare region of the spectrum (E > 10 keV) for radiography; also, the first direct and correlated measurements were carried out of current and of the energy spectrum of high-current electron beams generated in X-pinches and hard (up to y-quantum energy of about 100 keV) radiation.

At the Samara Branch, a new class of laser beams called spiral beams was experimentally found and realized Unlike the known beams, they possess two drastically new properties. First, preserving their shape in propagation and focusing, they can have a required structure of intensity distribution, in particular, in the form of arbitrary curves or their populations. Second, the vortex character of the distribution of light energy in beams stipulates the occurrence of a significantly nonzero angular momentum in them. These two properties make it possible to establish preset microdistributions of intensity and angular momentum in the area of focusing and, therefore, open a fundamentally new possibility of contact-free manipulation by microobjects in electronics and microbiolog). Methods of intra-resonant and extra-resonant formation of spiral laser beams and, based on them, methods of controlling microobjects were developed. Laser beams with nonzero angular momentum in the form of an Archimedean spiral, a light segment and a curve with self-intersection were first formed. Using such beams, the movement along a given trajectory of weakly absorbing particles of micrometer size was realized

The polyphysical character of the Institute set by S.I. Vavilov significantly facilitates the possibility of performing studies at the intersection of several directions of science.

Together with the leading American research centres, a "femtosecond optical clock" with the stability of M 0^'^ was first realized based on a compact methane optical standard created at the LPI and a femtosecond optical frequency synthesizer (USA). The level of phase noise of the output UHF signal of the optical clock is by two or three orders lower than the noise of the best quartz generators. In 2008, a "compact femtosecond optical clock" was realized, and the advantage of the clock by the short-term stability of frequency was demonstrated as compared with the commercial H-maser.

Developed by a group of LPI research scientists and satisfying the most advanced modern worid standards, the high-tech PAVICOM facility ("Completely Automated Measuring Complex' in Russian) for processing the dat; of emulsion and solid-state track detectors proved itself to be a reliable and highly efficient multipurpose experimental centre, having no analogues in Russia. It is successfully used for high-tech processing ol data obtained in experiments using emulsion and solid-state track detectors, in nuclear physics, cosmic ray physics, high energy physics, and covers the requirements of not only LPI experimentalists but also of other Russian laboratories and institutes (Scientific Research Institute for Nuclear Physics of the Moscow State University Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics). PAVICOM is officially accredited as a participant of one of the major and significant international experiments OPERA, which is oriented to obtain reliable quantitative results on neutrino oscillations Besides, on the initiative of V.L Ginzburg, fundamentally important studies were begun to search for high-energy nuclei of superheavy (Z > 110) elements in cosmic rays. This direction of studies belongs to the most significant and topical problems of modern nuclear physics and astrophysics. At present, studies of tracks of nuclei in olivine crystals from meteorites are under way At the LPI's Tien-Shan High-altitude Scientific Station of Cosmic Rays, an experimental complex Groza (Thunderstorm) was created under the leadership of Academ¬ician AM. Gurevich jointly by research scientists of the Division of Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and the Division of Theoretical Physics for studies of the pulse radio emission in thunderstorms and for investigations of the relationsiiip between tlie ligtitning phenomena and extensive air showers (EAS). The Station is a unique place for studies of tlie physics of thunderstorm discharge, because its altitude - 3340 m above sea level - corresponds to the height of thunderstorm clouds over the Northern Tien-Shan mountains. Thus, during thunderstorms, frequent here from late May to early September, detectors of the Station prove directly inside a thunderstorm cloud. At present, a continuous monitoring of EAS is performed at the Groza installation, as well as radio and gamma radiation within a broad frequency range is registered. For the first time under ground-based conditions, short (about a millisecond) bursts of intensity of a soft gamma radiation inside thunderstorm clouds exceeding the background tens of times were registered. The bursts emerge hundreds of microseconds before a lightning discharge. Their correlation with extensive atmospheric showers of cosmic rays was found. Now the development of a facility for simulation of thunderstorm phenomena under laboratory conditions is being completed at the LPl.

The scientific goal of the program RAMBAS (RAdiation Mechanism of Biomolecular ASymmetry) performed by nuclear, theoretical and optical physicists in cooperation with Japanese and Chinese scientists is to study the physical and astrophysical aspects of one of the essential fundamental scientific problems - the problem of the origin of life, to be more exact, the key point of this problem - the issue of the origin of biological homochirality (or "mirror asymmetry of the biosphere"). In the experimental aspect, main attention is given to the verification of the hypothesis of the relation of the biological homochirality to parity violation in weak interactions. The mechanism, which could possibly realize this relation, is proposed to be asymmetric radiolysis of prebiological molecules of longitudinally polarized electrons, emerging in beta-decays (the so called "radiation mechanism"). RAMBAS studies yielded sufficiently reliable evidence in favour of the important role, which the irradiation by fluxes of relativistic charged particles could possibly play both for the synthesis of essential bioorganic compounds and for the origination (in irradiation by polarized particles) of the chiral asymmetry of bioorganic substances. The latter conclusion can be of prime significance for solving the problem of the origin of life and the emergence of chiral asymmetry of the biosphere both in earth and space scenarios of the origin of life.

The success of the studies performed at the Lebedev Physical Institute is largely determined by the availability of formidable and actively operated experimental facilities.

In particular, the Institute operates installations created a rather long time ago and modified many times, for instance, Accelerator S-60 constructed by V.I. Veksler in 1947. In spite of the large service age of this installation, by the effort of the highly professional team of the laboratory the accelerator is constantly modernized, is quite competitive, receives financial support from a number of agencies and is successfully used for solving a number of topical problems in the field of public health etc. In particular, the method of fluorescent picosecond spectroscopy is used for assaying sera of the blood from depression patients treated at the clinic of the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. This method was shown to enable the determination of a difference in the probe fluorescence quenching parameters in: depressive patients and healthy donors and thus can be used for the diagnostics of depressive states.

The Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory of the LPI Astro Space Centre is one of the largest radioastronomical observatories not only in this country but also in the world. The directions of studies of PRAO LPI ASC are the physics of pulsars; pulsar radioastrometry; physics of interstellar medium; interplanet plasma, solar wind; galactic and extragalactic radioastronomy; spectral radioastronomy; search for radio emission^ determined by ultrahigh energy particles; space project RadioAstron. Three large radio telescopes are located here: RT-22, DKR-100 and BSA, which are in the list of Russia's unique stands and installations:

RT-22 is a fully steerable precision radio telescope of the centimetre and milli¬metre wavelength range, with its main dish 22 metres in diameter;

DKR-100 is a wide-band cross-type radio telescope of the metre range with its two arms (East-West and North-South) of 40 m by 1 km in size each; the working range of the instrument is two bands (from 2.5 to 10 m);

BSA is a phased array 187 by 384 m in size (a total of 16384 dipoles) operated in the 2.7 m wavelength range; to date, this is the most sensitive instrument in the metre wavelength range.

The LPI researchers can use the foremost research-facilitating technologies in their work. For instance, the Institute created a cluster of the world data-processing system GRID, which is operationally and functionally integrated into the Russian segment of the global GRID infrastructure RuTier2/RDIG. The computing resources of the Institute's node of the RuTier2/RDIG GRID facility will be used for processing the data of experiments on the LHC (ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb) and a number of space-based experiments. The LPI provides for the processing power of no less than 90 KSI2000 and disc resources of no less than 50 TB for data storage.

Solving topical physical problems requires adequate and modern equipment. Technical equipping needs the constant and preferential effort of Institute's directorate and leading scientists, and it bears fruit. By the initiative of Academician V.L Ginzburg, the LPI establishes a state-of-the-art Centre of High-temperature Superconductivity and Superconducting Nanostructures. A large investment project has been launched to accommodate it.' project will add 6500 square metres of facilities to LPI's experimental base; all existing technologies fo production of superconducting nanostructures and a modern complex of analytical equipment will used here.

Within tlie framework of the approved Federal Space Program of the Russian Federation, two large space projects - RadioAstron and Millimetron - are being developed at the LPl Astro Space Centre under the leadership of N.S. Kardashev The main scientific goal of the RadioAstron mission is to study astronomical objects of various types with unprecedented resolution up to millionth fractions of an angular second. This resolution will enable studies of active galactic nuclei near the assumed localization of supermassive black holes; neutron stars and black holes in our Galaxy etc. The Millimetron mission is the further development of space-based radio astronomy in the direction of transition to shorter wavelengths. The project assumes the development of an observatory in the millimetre, submillimetre and infrared wavelength ranges with a cryogenic telescope 12 metres in diameter. The observatory will provide for astronomical studies of superhigh sensitivity with respect to the flux and of a superhigh angular resolution. The telescope will operate covering the entire region of the spectrum of 0.4-10 mm cosmic electromagnetic background, where the relict radiation predominates.

A confirmation of a higii level and topicality of research by the Institute, of the competent organization of work with young scientists, is the fact that the LPI has the largest postgraduate studentship in the Russian Academy of Sciences. For instance, the number of LPI postgraduates working at the Institute was 105 in 2008, which was 27% of all postgraduate students of the Division of Physical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The long¬standing cooperation of the LPI with Russia's leading institutes contributes to the training of personnel within the country's scientific and technical frame of reference, provides for the replenishment of the Institute with qualified specialists. This activity is coordinated by the Scientific-educational Complex. The main goal of the Complex is to engage young scientists in scientific and pedagogical work, to provide for intergenerational continuity of LPI's scientific scliools; to strengtiien tiie personnel potential of the Institute in the essential directions of fundamental research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Federal Programs, to coordinate the activities of the main departments within the framework of educational programs compatible with higher-school programs. The LPl has links with many Moscow and regional higher-education institutions in various forms (more than 25 chairs and the Educational-scientific Centre). Jointly with universities having the physical faculties or technical universities formed on the basis of institutes of a physical profile, scientific-training and scientific-educational centres were organized to coordinate several educational-scientific departments. Another approach are direct ties with the chairs of other universities with respect to the physical and related qualifications. The policy of financial support to young scientists, of help in solving their housing problems is carried out. The increase of the number of successfully defended theses also objectively reflects the significance and importance of the obtained results of studies (21 theses in 2008 as compared with 9 in 2000).