Sergei Kopeikin
| Sergei Kopeikin | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | April 10, 1956 Kashin, USSR |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | Russian/American |
| Fields | Theoretical Physics and Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Missouri-Columbia |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University and Sternberg Astronomical Institute |
| Doctoral advisor | Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich |
| Doctoral students | Oleg V. Doroshenko Alexander E. Rodin Vladimir A. Potapov Igor Y. Vlasov Pavel Korobkov Yi Xie |
| Known for | Relativity and Gravitation and Tests of general relativity |
Sergei Kopeikin (born April 10, 1956) is a USSR-born theoretical physicist presently living and working in the United States, where he holds the position of Professor of Physics at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He specializes in the theoretical and experimental study of gravity and general relativity. He is also an expert in the field of the astronomical references frames and time metrology. His general relativistic theory of the Post-Newtonian reference frames which he had worked out along with Victor A. Brumberg, was adopted in 2000 by the resolutions of the International Astronomical Union as a standard for reduction of ground-based astronomical observation. In September 2002 he led a team which conducted a high-precision VLBI experiment to measure the fundamental speed of gravity.[1] He is also involved in studies concerning the capabilities of the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) technique to measure dynamical features of the General Theory of Relativity in the lunar motion. He has recently criticized the claims of other scientists concerning the possibility of LLR to measure the gravitomagnetic interaction.[2]
Kopeikin was born in Kashin, a small town near Moscow in what was then the USSR. He graduated with excellence from Department of Astrophysics of Moscow State University in 1983 where he studied general relativity under Leonid Grishchuk presently Distinguished Research Professor of physics in Cardiff University, Wales. In 1986, he obtained a Ph.D. in relativistic astrophysics from the Space Research Institute in Moscow. His Ph.D. thesis was advised by Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich and presented a first general-relativistic derivation of the conservative and radiation reaction forces in the Post-Newtonian expansions of the gravitational field of a binary system of two extended, massive bodies. In 1991, he obtained a Doctor of Science degree from Moscow State University and moved to Tokyo (Japan) in 1993 to teach astronomy in Hitotsubashi University. He was adjunct staff member in National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in 1993-1996 and a visiting professor in the same observatory in 1996-1997. Kopeikin moved to Germany in 1997 and worked in the Institute for Theoretical Physics of Friedrich Schiller University of Jena until 1999. He had joined Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Missouri in February 2000.
He has been married to Zoia Kopeikina (daughter of Solomon Borisovich Pikelner) since 1980, they have four daughters. As of February 2000 they live in Columbia, Missouri.
[edit] Bibliometric information
According to Harzing's "Publish or Perish" Google Scholar program, the h-index of S.M. Kopeikin is 24, his h-index normalized per author is 20, while the total number of citations is 2104. According to the NASA ADS database, the total number of citations is 1416, and the number of citations with self-citations excluded, is equal to 831.
[edit] References
- ^ "Einstein proved right on gravity". BBC News. January 8, 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2639043.stm. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
- ^ "Physicist Says Testing Technique For Gravitomagnetic Field Is Ineffective". Science Daily. June 2, 2007. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070601104855.htm. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
[edit] External links
- Kopeikin's University of Missouri homepage
- "MU SCIENTIST MEASURES SPEED OF GRAVITY" - a UMC press release about Kopeikin's results
- "Speed of Gravity Measured for First Time" - a NRAO press-release on VLBI experiment measured the ultimate speed of gravity
- "Physicist Disputes Speed of Gravity Claim" - American Physical Society News article, dated June 2003, describing criticism of the results
- "Aberration and the Fundamental Speed of Gravity in the Jovian Deflection Experiment" - Kopeikin's respond to the criticism
- "Gravimagnetism, Causality, and of Gravity in the Gravitational Light-Ray Deflection Experiments" - Kopeikin's new proposals for further improvements of the experimental results on the fundamental speed of gravity
- "Relativistic Celestial Mechanics in the Solar System" - monograph by S. Kopeikin, M. Efroimsky and G. Kaplan
