Antonina Prykhotko

Antonina Fedorivna Prykhotko (Ukrainian: Антоніна Федорівна Прихотько; 26 April 1906, Pyatigorsk – 29 September 1995, Kyiv) was a Soviet and Ukrainian experimental physicist. She was an Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and is known for her fundamental contributions to the condensed matter spectroscopy.

Career

The principal discovery of Prykhotko was published in her 1944 paper[1] based on the experimental data collected still in Kharkov, and in her 1948 follow-up paper.[2] She reported the discovery in the absorption spectra of monocrystals of naphthalene two new bands that were polarized along the symmetry axes of the crystal, as distinct from the majority of bands that there present in both components of the spectrum at the same frequencies. Because individual molecules in crystalline naphthalene are tilted with respect to the crystal axes, existence of strongly polarized absorption bands proved unambiguously that electronic excitation is not localized at individual molecules but propagates across the crystal. Prykhotko's discovery stimulated development of Davydov' theory of molecular excitons for crystals including several molecules in a unit cell.[3] While existence of excitons was predicted by Yakov Frenkel and afterwards by Gregory Wannier and Nevill Francis Mott, Prykhotko's was the first convincing experimental discovery of excitons. The follow-up experiments on low-temperature spectra of benzine crystals[4][5] confirmed agreement between the theory and experiment.

In the 1950s and 1960s Prykhotko and her group carried out systematic optical studies of the absorption and luminescence spectra of benzene, its homologues and other molecular crystals. They investigated polymorphic phase transitions, the influence of impurities and lattice defects on exciton luminescence, and developed high-precision methods for measuring absorption and dispersion of light in molecular crystals. The results revealed a number of new regularities in the interaction of light with molecular crystals and became reference data for later work in crystal optics.[6]

In her later years Prykhotko supervised detailed studies of the absorption spectra of antiferromagnetic solid α-oxygen in strong magnetic fields at temperatures close to 1 K. This work demonstrated the existence of biexcitons and exciton–magnon coupling in molecular crystals and is regarded as a significant contribution to the spectroscopy of antiferromagnetic states.[7]

Under her direction the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR became a major centre for the design of cryogenic equipment. Her group developed robust metal optical cryostats that replaced fragile glass Dewar vessels and were widely adopted in low-temperature spectroscopy laboratories in the USSR.[6]

Works

According to later biographical accounts, Prykhotko was the author or co-author of about 150 scientific papers and two monographs on the spectroscopy of molecular crystals and cryocrystals.[6]

Selected works include:

  • “Absorption spectra of crystals at low temperatures”, Journal of Physics USSR 8 (1944), 257–270.
  • “Absorption and luminescence spectra of benzene and its homologues”, Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Fizicheskaya 7 (1948), 499–509.
  • (with V. L. Broude) “Spectra of absorption of benzene single crystals in polarized light”, Zhurnal Eksperimentalnoi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki 22 (1952), 605–616.
  • (with V. L. Broude and V. S. Medvedev) “Spectral investigations of benzene crystals at 20.4 K”, Optika i Spektroskopiya 2 (1957), 317–327.
  • (with I. N. Ostrovskii and G. V. Pikous) “Spectra of solid antiferromagnetic oxygen”, Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur 6 (1980), 349–360.[7]

Honours and legacy

In 1948 Prykhotko was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and in 1964 she became a full member (academician). In 1966 she was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Scientist of the Ukrainian SSR. For her scientific achievements and organisational work she received the title of Hero of Socialist Labour, the Lenin Prize, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of Friendship of Peoples and several medals.[6]

Since 2000 the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has awarded the A. F. Prykhotko Prize for outstanding work in laser physics, optics, spectroscopy of condensed matter and crystal physics, commemorating her contribution to these fields.[8]

In 2021 Prykhotko was included among twelve prominent Ukrainian women scientists featured in the educational art project "Science is She" (Ukrainian: «Наука — це вона»), organised by the NGO STEM is FEM with the support of UN Women and UNICEF in Ukraine.[9][10]

See also

Further reading

  • A. S Davydov, Theory of Molecular Excitons (Plenum, New York) 1971
  • V. L. Broude, E. I. Rashba, and E. F. Sheka, Spectroscopy of molecular excitons (Springer, New York) 1985

References

  1. ^ A. Prikhotjko, Absorption Spectra of Crystals at Low Temperatures, J. Physics USSR 8, 257 (1944)
  2. ^ A. F. Prikhot'ko, Izv, AN SSSR Ser. Fiz. 7, 499 (1948) http://ujp.bitp.kiev.ua/files/journals/53/si/53SI18p.pdf Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ A. S. Davydov, Theory of Absorption Spectra of Molecular Crystals, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 18, 210 (1948) http://ujp.bitp.kiev.ua/files/journals/53/si/53SI14p.pdf Archived 2016-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ V. L. Broude and A. F. Prikhot'ko, Spectry Pogloshcheniya Monocrystallov Benzola v Polarizovannom Svete, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 22, 605 (1952)
  5. ^ V. L. Broude, V. S. Medvedev, and A. F. Prikhotjko, Spectral Investigations of Benzene Crystals at 20.4 K degrees, Opt.Spektrosk. 2, 317 (1957)
  6. ^ a b c d Клімушева, Гергеруда (2004). "Фізик Антоніна Прихотько". In Борисенко, Віра (ed.). Українки в історії (in Ukrainian). Київ: Либідь. pp. 102–104. ISBN 966-06-0361-4.
  7. ^ a b Prikhotko, A. F.; Ostrovskii, I. N.; Pikous, G. V. (1980). "Russian: Спектры твёрдого антиферромагнитного кислорода". Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur (in Russian). 6 (3): 349–360.
  8. ^ "Премії НАН України імені видатних учених України" (PDF). Національна академія наук України (in Ukrainian). НАН України. Retrieved 14 November 2025. 2000 року НАН України заснувала премію імені академіка А. Ф. Прихотько за видатні роботи з лазерної фізики, оптики, спектроскопії конденсованого стану та фізики кристалів.
  9. ^ "Учениці можуть взяти участь у конкурсі есе про науковиць". Нова українська школа (in Ukrainian). 23 February 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2025. Конкурс есе «Наука – це вона» присвячено діяльності 12 українських науковиць, серед яких фізикиня Антоніна Прихотько.
  10. ^ "«До дідька мій факультет!» — як школярки та студентки надихнулись історіями про видатних українських науковиць". Дзеркало тижня (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 14 November 2025. Проєкт «Наука — це вона» присвячений 12 видатним українським науковицям, зокрема фізикині Антоніні Прихотько.

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