View source for Yakov Zeldovich

{{Short description|Soviet physicist, physical chemist and cosmologist (1914–1987)}}
{{family name hatnote|Borisovich|Zeldovich|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Yakov Zeldovich
| native_name       = {{nobold|Яков Зельдович}}
| native_name_lang  = ru
| image             = Stamp of Russia 2014 YaB Zel'dovich.jpg
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = Zeldovich on a 2014 [[Russian Post]] stamp
| birth_name        = Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich<br>{{small|(Я́ков Бори́сович Зельдо́вич)}}
| siglum            = YaB
| birth_date        = 8 March 1914
| birth_place       = [[Minsk]], [[Minsk Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]<br>{{small|(now Minsk in [[Belarus]])}}
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1987|12|02|1914|3|8}}
| death_place       = Moscow, [[Russian SFSR|Russia]], [[Soviet Union]]
| resting_place     = [[Novodevichy Cemetery]] in Moscow
| residence         = 
| nationality       = 
| citizenship       = USSR
| fields            = Physics
| workplaces        = [[Institute of Chemical Physics]]<br/>[[Moscow State University]]<br/>[[Sternberg Astronomical Institute]]
| alma_mater        = [[Saint Petersburg State University]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Aleksandr Frumkin]]
| academic_advisors = 
| thesis_title      = Theory of Nitrogen Oxidation
| thesis_url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=hWx4AAAAQBAJ&q=zel%27dovich+degree+1939&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q&f=false
| thesis_year       = 1939
| doctoral_students = {{plainlist|1=
*[[Sergei Kopeikin]]
*[[Marina Romanova]]
}}
| notable_students  = [[Rashid Sunyaev]]<br/> [[Roman Juszkiewicz]]<br/> [[Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov|Igor Novikov]]<br/>{{ill|Sergei Shandarin|ru|Шандарин, Сергей Фёдорович}}<br/> [[Alexei Starobinsky]]<br/> [[Vladimir M. Lipunov]]<br/>{{ill|Victor Shvartsman|ru|Шварцман, Викторий Фавлович}}<br/>[[Varun Sahni]]<br/>[[Deborah Dultzin]]
| known_for         = [[Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect]] <br/> [[ZND detonation model]]<br/>Zeldovich approximation<br/>[[Antidynamo theorem|Zeldovich antidynamo theorem]]<br/>Zeldovich equation of state<br/>[[Classical nucleation theory#Description|Zeldovich factor]]<br/>[[Zeldovich mechanism]]<br/>[[Zeldovich number]]<br/>[[Zeldovich pancake]]<br/>[[Superradiance#Astrophysics and relativity|Zeldovich radiation]]<br/>[[Matter power spectrum#Development according to gravitational expansion|Harrison–Zeldovich spectrum]]<br/>Zeldovich streaming model<br/>[[Zeldovich regularization]]<br/>[[Zeldovich spontaneous wave]]<br/>[[Zeldovich–Liñán–Dold model]] <br/> [[Zeldovich–Taylor flow]]<br/>BZT fluid<br/>[[Shvab–Zeldovich formulation]]<br/>[[ZFK equation]] <br/>Pauli–Zeldovich cancellation<br/>[[Activation energy asymptotics]]<br/>[[Diffusive–thermal instability]]<br/>[[Gravitational memory effect]]<br/>[[Method of matched asymptotic expansions]]<br/>[[Primordial black hole]]<br/>[[Self-similar solution|Self-similar solution of the second kind]]<br/>[[Four-current#Quantum field theory|Vector current conservation hypothesis]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = [[Friedmann Prize]] {{small|(2002)}}<br/>[[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal]] {{small|(1985)}}<br/>[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] {{small|(1983)}}<br/>[[Bruce Medal]] {{small|(1983)}}<br/>[[Kurchatov Medal]] {{small|(1977)}}<br/>[[Lenin Prize]] {{small|(1957)}}<br/>[[Hero of Socialist Labor]] {{small|(1949, 1954, 1956)}}
| signature         = 
| signature_alt     = 
| footnotes         = 
}}
{{Cosmology|scientists}}
'''Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Foreign Member of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]]}}<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Ginzburg | first1 = V. L. | author-link = Vitaly Ginzburg| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1994.0049 | title = Yakov Borissovich Zeldovich. 8 March 1914–2 December 1987 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 40 | pages = 430–441| year = 1994 | s2cid = 122681428 | doi-access =  }}</ref> ({{langx|ru|link=no|Я́ков Бори́сович Зельдо́вич}}, {{langx|be|Я́каў Бары́савіч Зяльдо́віч}}; 8 March 1914 – 2 December 1987), also known as '''YaB''',<ref name="sai-msu">{{cite web|title=YaB-100 – Homepage|url=http://master.sai.msu.ru/en/zelcen/|website=master.sai.msu.ru|publisher=sai-msu|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> {{small|[[Doctor of Sciences|D.S.]]}} was a leading [[Soviet people|Soviet]] [[Physics|physicist]] of [[Belarusians|Belarusian origin]], who is known for his prolific contributions in physical [[Physical cosmology|cosmology]], physics of [[Plasma physics|thermonuclear reactions]], combustion, and [[Fluid dynamics|hydrodynamical]] phenomena.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ya. B. Zel'dovich and Yu. P. Raizer; ed. by Wallace D. Hayes and Ronald F. Probstein|title=Physics of shock waves and high-temperature hydrodynamic phenomena|date=2002|publisher=N.Y.|location=Mineola|isbn=0-486-42002-7|edition=Reprod.}}</ref>

From 1943, Zeldovich, a self-taught physicist, started his career by playing a crucial role in the development of the former [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet program of nuclear weapons]]. In 1963, he returned to academia to embark on pioneering contributions on the fundamental understanding of the [[Black hole thermodynamics|thermodynamics]] of [[black hole]]s and expanding the scope of physical cosmology.<ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette" />

==Biography==
===Early life and education===

Yakov Zeldovich was born into a [[History of the Jews in Belarus|Belarusian Jewish]] family in his grandfather's house in [[Minsk]].<ref name="Haaretz">{{cite web |work=[[Haaretz]]|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/this-day-in-jewish-history/this-day-in-jewish-history-a-self-taught-nuclear-physicist-is-born-1.508640/|title=This day in Jewish history / A self-taught nuclear physicist is born|date= 8 March 2013 |access-date=8 November 2013}}</ref> However, in mid-1914, the Zeldovich family moved to [[Saint Petersburg]]. They resided there until August 1941, when the family was evacuated together with the faculty of the [[Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics|Institute of Chemical Physics]] to [[Kazan]] to avoid the [[Great Patriotic War|Axis Invasion]] of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev">{{cite book |last1=Sunyaev |first1=Rashid |title=Zeldovich Reminiscences. |date=2004 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9780203500163 |edition=1 |location=London |pages=370 |language=en |chapter=Childhood and School days |author-link1=Rashid Sunyaev |access-date=17 April 2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBAc8701A6wC&q=zel%27dovich+ceducation&pg=PA301}}</ref>{{rp|301}} They remained in Kazan until the summer of 1943, when Zeldovich moved to Moscow.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/><!--{{rp|xx}}-->

His father, Boris Naumovich Zeldovich, was a lawyer; his mother, Anna Petrovna Zeldovich (née Kiveliovich), a translator from French to Russian, was a member of the [[Union of Soviet Writers|Writer's Union]].<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/><!--{{rp|xx}}--> Despite being born into a devoted and religious Jewish family, Zeldovich was an "absolute [[Atheism|atheist]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Zeldovich: Reminiscences|url=https://archive.org/details/zeldovichreminis00libg|url-access=limited|year=2004|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780415287906|author=Zel'dovich, Yakov Borisovich |editor=Sunyaev, R.A. |page=[https://archive.org/details/zeldovichreminis00libg/page/n95 69]|quote=I think that you know me well enough: I am an absolute atheist, and all days of the week are completely the same to me.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Andrei Sakharov: Facets of a Life|year=1991|publisher=Atlantica Séguier Frontières|isbn=9782863320969|page=599|quote=Speaking about religion, Yakov Borisovich could say unambiguously, "I'm an absolute atheist".}}</ref>

Zeldovich was an [[Autodidacticism|autodidact]]. He was regarded as having a remarkably versatile intellect, and during his life he explored and made major contributions to a wide range of scientific endeavors.<ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette">{{cite web|last1=Sublette|first1=Carey|title=Yakov Zel'dovich|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Zeldovch.html|website=nuclearweaponarchive.org|publisher=nuclear weapon archives|access-date=17 April 2017|date=1 May 2002}}</ref> From a given opportunity in May 1931, he secured an appointment as a laboratory assistant at the [[Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics|Institute of Chemical Physics]] of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]], and remained associated with the institute for the remainder of his life.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/><ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette"/>{{rp|301}} As a laboratory assistant, he received preliminary instructions on the topics involved in the [[physical chemistry]] and built up his reputation among his seniors at the Institute of Chemical Physics.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|301}}

From 1932 to 1934, Zeldovich attended the undergraduate courses on physics and mathematics at the Leningrad State University (now [[Saint Petersburg State University]]), and later attended the technical lectures on introductory physics at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (now [[Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University]]).<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|301}}<ref name="American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. Luca">{{cite book |last1=Sirignano |first1=W. |title=Advances in combustion science : in honor of Ya. B. Zel'dovich |last2=Merzhanov |first2=A. |last3=De Luca |first3=L. |date=1997 |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. |isbn=9781600864261 |edition=173 |location=Reston, Va. |pages=500 |language=en |chapter=Biography |access-date=18 April 2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYQHMDKCQkQC&q=zel%27dovich+degree+1939&pg=PP17}}</ref>{{rp|2–5}}

In 1936, he was successful in his candidacy for the [[Candidate of Science]] degree (a Soviet equivalent of PhD), having successfully defended his dissertation on the topic of the "[[adsorption]] and [[catalysis]] on heterogeneous surfaces".<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|301}} The centrality of his thesis focused towards the research on the ''Freundlich (or classical) adsorption isotherm'', and Zeldovich discovered the theoretical foundation of this empirical observation.<ref name="frs" />

In 1939, Zeldovich prepared his dissertation based on the mathematical theory of the physical interpretation of [[Nitrogen oxide|nitrogen oxidation]], and successfully received the [[Doctor of Sciences]] in [[mathematical physics]] when it was reviewed by [[Alexander Frumkin]].<ref name="Oxford University Press Hargittai">{{cite book|last1=Hargittai|first1=Istvan|title=Buried glory : portraits of Soviet scientists|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780199985593|pages=320|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWx4AAAAQBAJ&q=zel%27dovich+degree+1939&pg=PA39|access-date=18 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|39–40}} Zeldovich discovered its mechanism, known in [[physical chemistry]] as the [[NOx#Thermal|thermal {{NOx}} mechanism]] or [[Zeldovich mechanism]].

===Soviet program of nuclear weapons===
{{main|Soviet atomic bomb program}}
Zeldovich is regarded as a secret principal of the [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet nuclear weapons project]]; his travels abroad were highly restricted, to Eastern Europe, under close Soviet security.<ref name="Springer, Khalatnikov">{{cite book|last1=Khalatnikov|first1=Isaak M.|title=From the atomic bomb to the Landau Institute autobiography. Top non-secret|date=2012|publisher=Springer, Khalatnikov|location=Berlin|isbn=9783642275616|pages=210|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5w09evl6wqYC&q=yakov+borisovich+zel%27dovich+nuclear+weapons&pg=PA198|access-date=18 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|198–199}} Soon after the discovery of [[nuclear fission]] (by German chemist [[Otto Hahn]] in 1939) Russian physicists had begun investigating the scope of nuclear-fission physics, and undertook seminars on that topic; [[Igor Kurchatov]] and [[Yulii Khariton]] were engaged in 1940.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|79–80}}

In May 1941, Zeldovich worked with Khariton in constructing a theory, on the kinetics of nuclear reactions in the presence of the [[Critical mass|critical conditions]].<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|81}} The work of Khariton and Zeldovich was extended into theories of ignition, [[combustion]] and [[detonation]]; these accounted for features which had not previously been correctly predicted, observed, nor explained.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev" />{{rp|82}}<ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette" /> The modern theory of detonation accordingly is called the [[ZND detonation model|Zeldovich-von Neumann-Dohring, or ZND, theory]], and its development involved tedious [[fast neutron calculations]]; this work had been delayed, due to the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion]] of the [[Soviet Union]], which obstructed progress on findings that in June 1941 would be de-classified.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|82}} In 1942, Zeldovich was relocated to [[Kazan]], and tasked by the [[Ministry of Agricultural Machine Building|People's Commissariat of Munitions]] to carry out work on conventional [[Gunpowder|gun powders]] to be supplied to the [[Soviet Army]], while Khariton was asked to design the new types of conventional weaponry.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|87–88}}

In 1943, [[Joseph Stalin]] decided to launch an [[Nuclear arms race|arms build-up]] of [[Russia and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear weapons]], under the charge of [[Igor Kurchatov]]; the latter requested Stalin to relocate Zeldovich and Khariton to Moscow, in the nuclear weapons program.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev" />{{rp|87–88}} Zeldovich joined [[Igor Kurchatov]]'s small team at this secretive laboratory in Moscow to launch the work on the nuclear combustion theory, and became a head of the theoretical department at the [[Arzamas 16|Arzamas-16]] in 1946.<ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette" />

With [[Isaak Gurevich]], [[Isaak Pomeranchuk]], and Khariton, Zeldovich prepared a scientific report on the feasibility of releasing energy through nuclear fusion triggered by an atomic explosion, and presented it to Igor Kurchatov.<ref name="nuclear weapon archives Sublette" /> Zeldovich had benefitted from physical and technical knowledge provided by German physicist [[Klaus Fuchs]] and American physicist [[Theodore Hall]], who each had worked on the American [[Manhattan Project]] to develop nuclear weapons.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|89–90}}

In 1949, Zeldovich led a team of physicists that conducted the first [[nuclear test]], the [[RDS-1]], based roughly on the [[Fat Man|American design]] obtained through the [[atomic spies]] in the United States, though he continued his fundamental work on explosive theory.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev" />{{rp|89–90}} Zeldovich then began working on modernizing the successive [[Nuclear weapon design|designs]] of the [[nuclear weapon]] and initially conceived the idea of [[hydrogen bomb]] to [[Andrei Sakharov]] and others.<ref name="CRC Press Sunyaev"/>{{rp|89–90}} In the course of his work on nuclear weapons, Zeldovich did ground-breaking work in radiation hydrodynamics, and the physics of matter at high pressure.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Between 1950 and 1953, Zeldovich performed calculations necessary for the feasibility of the [[Thermonuclear weapon|hydrogen bomb]] that were verified by [[Andrei Sakharov]], although the two groups worked in parallel on the development of the thermonuclear fusion. However, it was Sakharov that radically changed the approach to thermonuclear fusion, aided by [[Vitaly Ginzburg]] in 1952.<ref name="Springer, Roberg">{{cite book|last1=Roberg|first1=Jeffrey L.|title=Soviet Science under Control: The Struggle for Influence| date=1998| publisher=Springer| location=U.S.|isbn=9781349262908|pages=153|edition=1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTS_DAAAQBAJ&q=zel%27dovich+hydrogen+bomb+1949&pg=PA56|access-date=18 April 2017|language=en|chapter=The Hydrogen Bomb}}</ref>{{rp|56–57}} He remained associated with the nuclear testing program, while heading the experimental laboratories at [[Arzamas]]-[[Arzamas 16|16]] until October 1963, when he left for academia.<ref name="Oxford University Press Hargittai"/>{{rp|38–40}}

==Academia and cosmology==

In 1952, Zeldovich began work in the field of [[elementary particle]]s and their transformations. He predicted the [[beta decay]] of a [[pion|pi meson]]. Together with [[Semyon Gershtein]] he noticed the analogy between the [[Weak interaction|weak]] and [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic interactions]], and in 1960, he predicted the [[muon]] [[catalysis]] (more precisely, the muon-catalysed dt-fusion) phenomenon. In 1977, Zeldovich together with {{ill|Fyodor Shapiro|ru|Шапиро, Фёдор Львович}} was awarded the [[Kurchatov Medal]], the highest award in nuclear physics of the Soviet Union. The citation was "for prediction of characteristics of ultracold [[neutron]]s, their detection and investigation". He was elected academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences on 20 June 1958. He was a head of division at the [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics|Institute of the Applied Mathematics]] of the USSR Academy of Sciences from 1965 until January 1983.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

[[File:I. S. Shklovsky and Ya. B. Zel'dovich, 1977.jpg|thumb|Zeldovich (right) with astrophysicist [[Iosif Shklovsky]] in 1977]]
In early 1960s, Zeldovich started working in [[astrophysics]] and [[physical cosmology]]. In 1964, he and independently [[Edwin Ernest Salpeter|Edwin Salpeter]] were the first to suggest that [[accretion disc]]s around massive [[black hole]]s are responsible for the huge amounts of energy radiated by [[quasars]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Collin, Suzy |arxiv=astro-ph/0604560 |title=Quasars and Galactic Nuclei, a Half-Century Agitated Story|doi= 10.1063/1.2399629|journal=AIP Conf. Proc. |volume=861|pages= 587–595 |year=2006|bibcode=2006AIPC..861..587C |s2cid=14346374 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Zel'dovich |first=Ya.B.|journal=Sov. Phys. Dokl. |title=The Fate of a Star and the Evolution of Gravitational Energy Upon Accretion| year=1964| volume=9| pages=195|bibcode = 1964SPhD....9..195Z }}</ref> From 1965, he was a professor at the Department of Physics of the [[Moscow State University]] and a head of the division of [[General relativity|Relativistic]] [[Astrophysics#Theoretical astrophysics|Astrophysics]] at the [[Sternberg Astronomical Institute]]. In 1966, he and [[Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov|Igor Novikov]] were the first to propose searching for black hole candidates among binary systems in which one star is optically bright and X-ray dark and the other optically dark but X-ray bright (the black hole candidate).<ref name="Thorne">{{cite book |last1=Thorne |first1=Kip |title=Black holes and time warps |url=https://archive.org/details/blackholestimewa0000thor |url-access=registration |date=1994 |isbn=0-393-31276-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/blackholestimewa0000thor/page/308 308–309]|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company }}</ref>

Zeldovich worked on the theory of the evolution of the hot universe, the properties of the [[cosmic microwave background radiation|microwave background radiation]], the [[Structure formation|large-scale structure of the universe]], and the theory of [[black hole]]s. He predicted, with [[Rashid Sunyaev]], that the cosmic microwave background should undergo inverse [[Compton scattering]]. This is called the [[Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect]], and measurements by telescopes such as the [[Atacama Cosmology Telescope]] and the [[South Pole Telescope]] has established it as one of the key observational probes of cluster cosmology. Zeldovich contributed sharp insights into the nature of the large scale structure of the universe, in particular, through the use of Lagrangian perturbation theory (the Zeldovich approximation) and the application of the Burgers' equation approach via the adhesion approximation.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

In 1974, in collaboration with A. G. Polnarev, suggested the existence of a [[gravitational memory effect]], for which a system of freely falling particles initially at relative rest are displaced after the passing of a burst of [[Gravitational wave|gravitational radiation]].<ref>Ya.  B. Zel’dovich and A. G. Polnarev, "Radiation of gravitational waves by a cluster of superdense stars," Astron. Zh. '''51''', 30 (1974) [Sov. Astron. '''18''' 17(1974)].</ref>

===Black hole thermodynamics===

Zeldovich played a key role in developing the theory of [[Hawking radiation#Black hole evaporation|black hole evaporation]] due to [[Hawking radiation]]. Zeldovich and [[Charles W. Misner]] concomitantly predicted the possibility of particle generation by rotating [[Kerr metric|Kerr black holes]] in 1971, 1972. Previously, In 1965, Zeldovich had predicted that Kerr black holes would split the emission lines of photons as in a Zeeman effect. During [[Stephen Hawking]]'s visit to Moscow in 1973, Soviet scientists Zeldovich and [[Alexei Starobinsky]] showed Hawking that, according to the quantum mechanical [[uncertainty principle]], [[rotating black hole]]s should create and emit particles.<ref>Hawking, Stephen (1988) ''A Brief History of Time'', Bantam Books.</ref>

==Family==
With his wife, Varvara Pavlovna Konstantinova, Yakov Zeldovich had a son and two daughters who were also physicists: son – [[Boris Yakovlevich Zeldovich|Boris Zeldovich]];<ref name=USU2>{{cite web|url=https://www.creol.ucf.edu/newsevents/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=830|title=Professor Boris Zeldovich passes away at age 74|publisher=CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics|access-date=27 December 2018|date=18 December 2018|archive-date=27 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227181519/https://www.creol.ucf.edu/newsevents/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=830|url-status=dead}}</ref> daughters – Olga Yakovlevna Zeldovich and Marina Yakovlevna Zeldovich.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Zeldovich also had a daughter, Annushka, with O.K. Shiryaeva.<ref>{{cite book |title=Buried Glory: Portraits of Soviet Scientists | first=Istvan| last=Hargittai| publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013}}</ref>

He had one more daughter in 1945, Alexandra Varkovitskaya, with a linguist and folklorist [[:ru:Варковицкая, Людмила Александровна|Ludmila Varkovitskaya]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Zeldovich had another son with Nina Nikolaevna Agapova in 1958, whose name was Leonid Yakovlevich Agapov; he died in 2016 at the age of 58.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

==Publications==
===Books===
{{colbegin|colwidth=35em}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Ruzmaikin A.A.| title=Dynamo Problems in Astrophysics  |date=2015 | publisher=Cambridge Scientific Publishers| isbn= 978-1908106445 }}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Novikov I.D.| title=Stars and Relativity |date=2014 | publisher=Dover}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Raizer Yu.P.| title=Physics of Shock Waves and High-Temperature Hydrodynamic Phenomena, Volume 1 |date=2012 | publisher=Dover}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Raizer Yu.P.| title=Physics of Shock Waves and High-Temperature Hydrodynamic Phenomena, Volume 2 |date=2012 | publisher=Dover}}
*{{cite book | author=Perelomov A. M., Zel'dovich Ya.B.| title=Quantum Mechanics: Selected Topics |date=1999 | publisher=World Scientific| isbn= 978-9810235505}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Myskis A. D.| title=Elements of Applied Mathematics |date=1976 | publisher=Mir Publishers}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Myskis A. D.| title=Elements of Mathematical Physics}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B.| title=Selected Works of Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich: Particles, Nuclei, and the Universe |date=1993  | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn= 978-0691087429}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B.| title=Selected Works of Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich: Chemical Physics and Hydrodynamics |date=1992  | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn= 978-0691085944}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B.| title=My Universe: Selected Reviews |date=1992  | publisher=Routledge | isbn= 978-3718650040}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Ruzmaikin A.A., Sokoloff D.D.| title=Magnetic Fields in Astrophysics |date=1990 | publisher=Gordon & Breach Science Pub| isbn= 978-0677223308}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Ruzmaikin A.A., Sokoloff D.D.| title=The Almighty Chance |date=1990 | publisher=World Scientific| isbn= 978-9971509163}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Barenblatt G., Librovich V.B., Makhviladze G.M.| title=The Mathematical Theory of Combustion and Explosions |date=1985  | publisher=Consultants Bureau  | isbn= 978-0306109744}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Pilipetsky N.F., Shukunov V.V.| title=Principles of Phase Conjugation |date=1985  | publisher=Springer  | isbn= 978-3-662-13573-0}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Novikov I.D.| title=Relativistic Astrophysics: The Structure and Evolution of the Universe vol 2 |date=1983  | publisher=University of Chicago Press| isbn= 978-0226979571}}
*{{cite book| author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Novikov I.D.| title=Relativistic Astrophysics: Stars and Relativity vol 1| date=1971| publisher=University of Chicago Press| isbn=978-0226979557| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/relativisticastr0001zeld}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Raizer Yu.P.| title=Elements of Gasdynamics and the Classical Theory of Shock Waves |date=1968 | publisher=Academic Press}}
*{{cite book | author=Zel'dovich, Yakov B.; Kompaneets, Aleksandr Solomonovich| title=Theory of Detonation |date=1960 | publisher=Academic Press}}
*{{cite book| author=Zel'dovich Ya.B., Yaglom I.M.| title=Higher mathematics for beginning physicists and engineers| date=1988| publisher=Prentice Hall| isbn=978-0133876482| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/highermathforbeg0000zeld}}
*{{cite book| author=Zeldovich Ya. B.| title=Theory of shock waves and introduction to gas dynamics| date=1946|  url=https://archive.org/details/zeldovich-theory-of-shock-waves-and-introductionc-to-gas-dynamics/page/n7/mode/2up}}
{{colend}}

==Awards and honors==

[[Igor Kurchatov]] called him a "genius" and [[Andrei Sakharov]] named him "a man of universal scientific interests." After the first meeting in Moscow, [[Stephen Hawking|Stephen W. Hawking]] wrote to Zeldovich: "now I know that you are a real person and not a group of scientists like [[Nicolas Bourbaki|Bourbaki]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zelʹdovich |first=I︠A︡. B. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/889252616 |title=Chemical physics and hydrodynamics |date=1992 |others=J. P. Ostriker, G. I. Barenblatt, R. A. Si︠u︡ni︠a︡ev, E. Jackson, A. Granik |isbn=978-1-4008-6297-9 |location=Princeton, New Jersey |oclc=889252616}}</ref> He was a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1975),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/yakov-borisovich-zeldovich |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] (1979),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yakov Zeldovich |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/45902.html |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> and the [[American Philosophical Society]] (1979).<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Yakov%20Zel%27dovich;smode=advanced |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

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*[[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal of the ICTP]] (1985)
*[[Bruce Medal]] (1983)
*[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1984).
*[[Kurchatov Medal]] (1977)
*Three times [[Hero of Socialist Labor]] (1949, 1953, 1957)
*[[State Stalin Prize|Stalin Prize]] (1943, 1949, 1951, 1953)
*[[Lenin Prize]] (1957)
*Three [[Order of Lenin|Orders of Lenin]] (1949, 1962, 1974)
*Two [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour|Orders of the Red Banner of Labour]] (1945,1964)
*[[Order of the October Revolution]] (1962)
*An [[asteroid]] [[11438 Zeldovich]] was named in his honor in 2001. [http://xray.sai.msu.ru/~mystery/html/Z/planet/planet.html]
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==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Overbye, D. ''Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe''. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
* [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Zeldovich,+Yakov Annotated Bibliography for Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [http://xray.sai.msu.ru/~mystery/html/Z/z.engl.html Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich] – page at the [[Moscow State University]] dedicated to Zeldovich
* [http://www23.us.archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19730007229 Theory of combustion of unmixed gases – Zeldovich 1949, translated 1974]

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich}}

{{Soviet Atomic Bomb Project}}

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