Lifshitz

Lifshitz is a surname associated with several Soviet and Russian physicists, most notably Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz. Lifshitz was a theoretical physicist who, together with Lev D. Landau, authored the Course of Theoretical Physics, a multi-volume set of foundational textbooks that covered many areas of physics and became widely used as a reference in universities.

In physics, several concepts bear Lifshitz's name, reflecting his influence across condensed matter and statistical physics. These include the Lifshitz transition, describing a change in the topology of a material's Fermi surface as external parameters vary; the Lifshitz point, a multicritical point where a disordered, homogeneous, and modulated phase meet; the Lifshitz–Kosevich formula, which describes the temperature and magnetic-field dependence of quantum oscillations in metals; and the Lifshitz theory, a quantum-electrodynamic description of van der Waals and Casimir forces between macroscopic bodies.

The Lifshitz surname also appears in other areas of physics through later researchers who contributed independently, but the most prominent association remains Evgeny Lifshitz and the theoretical physics tradition linked to the Landau–Lifshitz series.