朗道从事应用方面的研究时也喜欢玩高观点、搞新技术[32]。应用研究很少见于朗道的论文集[33],参与核武器研发就是他研究生涯中少有的被迫从事应用类研究的例子。朗道在雅可夫·泽尔多维奇的带领下负责数值计算工作,但朗道并不像美国对手们一样使用计算机解决计算量很大的难题,这说明他发明了更厉害的新计算方法以绕过传统方法的计算困难[34]。他此期间的工作后来编成了1958年出版的讲义《一种基于网格法的偏微分方程数值方法》(Numerical Methods of an Integration of Partial Equations by a Method of Grids)[33]。
老同事彼得·卡皮查认为朗道性格高傲,脾气暴躁,经常出言不逊,批评其同事和老一辈物理学家,辱骂学生,这使他一生树敌众多[47]。朗道有一定的精神洁癖,看待问题容易绝对化[48]。据说自从和大学时代的好友德米特里·伊万年科(英语:Dmitri Ivanenko)[45]因政治方面的原因而决裂后,他就把对方说得一无是处,而且再也没把和对方合作过的作品收录于自己的选辑中[49]。只是在朗道面前提起伊万连科的名字都会导致和朗道处不好关系[48]。有人曾在他的办公室门上写“当心!此君咬人!”(Beware! He bites!)[43]。他在列宁格勒物理研究所因为得罪了老师阿布拉姆·约费而离开,后来又在哈尔科夫研究所因为得罪院长而离开[50]。其好友尤里·鲁莫尔(英语:Yuri Rumer)说朗道在成名后,锋芒有所收敛[51]。
朗道数学基本功和对物理的直觉都很好。但他也因此自负且偏执[48]。朗道喜欢對前辈们挑刺,以显示自己的厲害[47]。彼得·卡皮查给苏联领导人约瑟夫·斯大林的信中说朗道是个不好相处的同事,但也听得进劝告[47]。《斯大林的伟大科学:苏联科学家的时代与冒险》(Stalin's Great Science: The Times and Adventures of Soviet Physicists)一书的作者A·波耶夫尼科夫(Alexei B. Kojevnikov)认为朗道从小时候起就是1个问题儿童,并且其个性缺点一直伴随着他长大成人[7]。朗道的一大失误是在“θ-τ之谜”研究热潮期间,轻率地丢弃了由本国人约瑟夫·沙皮罗(俄语:Иосиф Соломонович Шапиро)(I. S. Shapiro, 1918-1999)写的尝试说明宇称不守恒的重要论文,导致同样提出此理论的杨振宁、李政道和吴健雄等人组成的小组抢到了诺贝尔奖[49][5][48]。不过朗道不久后又提出了“CP守恒”的崭新观点以挽回面子,这引出了后来CP并不守恒的新发现以及终极补救方案CPT对称的提出。
苏联氢弹计划领导者安德烈·萨哈罗夫曾在1947年说自己对于从事纯理论研究很不拿手,并说自己在这方面连朗道的徒弟伊萨克·波梅兰丘克都比不上,并用公式写下3人的理论研究功底排名(用姓氏英文拼写的首字母代表每个人):L > P > S[33]。1953年,当朗道听说萨哈罗夫入选苏联科学院时,直接表示萨哈罗夫不是理论学者,而只是个学物理的发明家[64]。
曾最早提出宇称不守恒观点,但遭朗道否决的约瑟夫·沙皮罗(俄语:Шапиро, Иосиф Соломонович (физик))(1918-1999)也写过回忆朗道的文章。该文后来收录于1989年出版的《朗道:物理学家兼普通人——关于朗道的回忆集》(Landau: The Physicist and the Man -- Recollections of L. D. Landau)中[67]。
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Теория поля [场论]. Курс теоретической физики 2 8. Москва: Физматлит. 2012. ISBN 5-9221-0056-4(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Квантовая механика (нерелятивистская теория) [量子力学 (非相对性理论)]. Курс теоретической физики 3 6. Москва: Физматлит. 2008. ISBN 978-5-9221-0530-9(俄语).
В. Б. Берестецкий; Е. М. Лифшиц; Л. П. Питаевский. Квантовая электродинамика [量子电动力学]. Курс теоретической физики 4 4. Москва: Физматлит. 2002. ISBN 5-9221-0058-0(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Статистическая физика. Часть 1 [统计物理学 (第1部分)]. Курс теоретической физики 5 5. Москва: Физматлит. 2010. ISBN 5-9221-0054-8(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Гидродинамика [流体动力学]. Курс теоретической физики 6 6. Москва: Физматлит. 2015. ISBN 978-5-9221-1625-1(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Теория упругости [弹性理论]. Курс теоретической физики 7 5. Москва: Физматлит. 2007. ISBN 5-9221-0122-6(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; Е. М. Лифшиц. Электродинамика сплошных сред [连续媒介质电动力学]. Курс теоретической физики 8. Москва: Физматлит. 2005 (俄语).
Е. М. Лифшиц; Л. П. Питаевский. Статистическая физика. Часть 2 [统计物理学 (第2部分)]. Курс теоретической физики 9. Москва: Физматлит. 2004 (俄语).
Е. М. Лифшиц; Л. П. Питаевский. Физическая кинетика [物理动力学]. Курс теоретической физики 10 2. Москва: Физматлит. 2007. ISBN 978-5-9221-0125-7(俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; А. И. Ахиезер; Е. М. Лифшиц. Курс общей физики. Механика и молекулярная физика [普通物理学:力学和分子物理学] 2. Москва: Наука(英语:Наука). 1969 [1965] (俄语).
Л. Д. Ландау; А. И. Китайгородский. Молекулы [分子]. Физика для всех 2. Москва: Наука. 1980 [1978] (俄语).
英译版:Lev Landau; Alexander Isaakovich Kitaigorodsky. Molecules [分子]. Physics for Everyone. Martin Greendlinger (英译者) 2. Mir Publications. 1980 [1978] [2018-05-04]. ISBN 9780714715513. (原始内容存档于2020-09-14) (英语).
注:《大众物理学》(俄语:«Физика для всех»,英語:Physics for Everyone)一共有4卷,但有朗道作为作者署名的仅有前2卷,而第3卷《电子》(俄语:«Электроны»,英語:Electrons)和第4卷《光子和原子核》(俄语:«Фотоны и ядра»,英語:Photons and Nuclei)仅是由亚历山大·基泰戈罗特斯基1人所著。
传记
Alexander Dorozynski. The Man They Wouldn't Let Die [他们不能让此人死去] 1. Secker & Warburg. 1965 (英语).[查证请求]
^这是安德烈·萨哈罗夫给的评价,英文原文为“In his influence on the development of science in our country and the entire world, Landau is one of the top figures.”出自Gorelik 2005,第252頁 (位于该书第14章“从军工物理到和平的宇宙学”(From Military Physics To Peaceful Cosmology)第3节“宇宙中的物质与反物质”(Matter and Antimatter in the Universe)。
^ 7.007.017.027.037.047.057.067.077.087.097.10见Kojevnikov 2004,第75頁 (位于原书第4章“列夫·朗道的游学之旅,或是说在文化革命大环境中的理论物理学”(Lev Landau's Wanderjahre, or Theoretical Physics in the Context of Cultural Revolution)第1节“一位苏联科学家的教育经历”(Education of a Soviet Scientist)。
^ 9.09.19.29.39.4见Kojevnikov 2004,第75頁 (位于原书第4章“列夫·朗道的游学之旅,或是说在文化革命大环境中的理论物理学”(Lev Landau's Wanderjahre, or Theoretical Physics in the Context of Cultural Revolution)第1节“一位苏联科学家的教育经历”(Education of a Soviet Scientist)。
^见Kojevnikov 2004,第88頁 (位于原书第4章“列夫·朗道的游学之旅,或是说在文化革命大环境中的理论物理学”(Lev Landau's Wanderjahre, or Theoretical Physics in the Context of Cultural Revolution)第3节“一场量子反叛”(A Quantum Rebel)。
^ 30.030.130.2Tatyana Baturina; Valerii M. Vinokur. Chapter 2: Ginzburg-Landau Equations. H. Rogalla; P. H. Kes (编). 100 Years of Superconductivity [超导百年](pdf) 1. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. 2011: 51–65 [2018年9月24日]. (原始内容存档(PDF)于2018年9月24日) (英语).
^ 32.032.132.232.332.4见Gorelik 2005,第191頁 (位于该书第12章“苏联培养下的理论物理学者”(Theoretical Physicists in Soviet Practice)第1节“塔姆,朗道,以及‘缘由’”(Tamm, Landau, and the "Cause")。
^见Ryutova-Kemoklidze 1995,第121頁 (位于第8章“物理学者们忙于工作且认为这样再正常不过了”(Physicists Went About Their Work and Regarded It As Perfectly Normal)),摘录如下:“It is said of Landau's character in his youthful years that he was cocky and outspoken in his judgements to the point of deliberate eccentricity. These traits reminded me of the young Mayakovsky when he... I think that such exaltation of the ego is characteristic of geniuses who are still seeking a position which is worthy of their talents. When Mayakovsky won general recognition he softened, became more approachable and kinder. Landau followed the same pattern. When universal recognition came to him - both at home and abroad - he stopped being arrogant.”
^见Ryutova-Kemoklidze 1995,第121頁 (位于第8章“物理学者们忙于工作且认为这样再正常不过了”(Physicists Went About Their Work and Regarded It As Perfectly Normal)),摘录如下:“There are many stories about Landau's arrogance. His friends, pupils and pupils' pupils hand on these legends from mouth to mouth and in them there clearly appears an inevitable element of fabrication. We shall not "enrich" the distortions which, unfortunately, already exist in the literature about Landau. There are, however, also well-documented facts.”
^见Ginzburg 1989,第60頁,原文摘录如下:“Even Landau mentioned his "classification" less often as the years passed, and he started to take a more sober view of classifying people.”
^见Ryutova-Kemoklidze 1995,第120頁 (位于第8章“物理学者们忙于工作且认为这样再正常不过了”(Physicists Went About Their Work and Regarded It As Perfectly Normal)),摘录如下:“Pavel Sigismundovich Ehrenfest introduced me to Landau at a conference on theoretical physics in Berlin at the very end of 1929. Landau said to me regretfully: 'Just as all the pretty girls are all spoken for and married, so are all the best problems already solved ... I doubt if I shall find anything worthwhile among those that remain.' But he did find something. In January 1930, while staying with Pauli in Zurich, he discovered what he called the last of the great problems - the analysis in quantum terms of the movement of electrons in a constant magnetic field. He solved this problem in the spring of that year while in Cambridge with Rutherford. So it was that Landau's diamagnetism and Pauli's paramagnetism came upon the scene at the same moment in the history of physics ...”
^ 59.059.1见Ryutova-Kemoklidze 1995,第121頁 (位于第8章“物理学者们忙于工作且认为这样再正常不过了”(Physicists Went About Their Work and Regarded It As Perfectly Normal)),摘录如下:“A typical example is Landau's telegram to Niels Bohr. In 1931, when Landau was in England, Dirac gave an account at a seminar of the work which had led to his famous equation. He tried to make sense of it in terms of "the positively charged electron" (the future positron!). Bohr held Landau's work in high estimation and sent him Dirac's paper, asking him his opinion. He soon received a telegram from Landau in which he gave his assessment of Dirac's ideas. The telegram was short and unambiguous: "Quatsch" - i. e., rubbish. This is yet another proof of the difficulty with which even brilliant minds bring themselves to accept new ideas. But no one in that age of heated argument took offence at such attacks.”
^见Ginzburg 1989,第60頁,原文摘录如下:“For example, Landau considered himself inferior "in class" to a number of other physicists and his contemporaries. This was particularly true of his attitude toward Feynman, who was 10 years younger than Landau. In 1962 I met Feynman at a conference in Poland. Feynman was concerned about Landau's health and inquired after him. (The two had never met.) I mentioned how highly Landau thought of Feynman's results, and that he ranked them higher than his own. Feynman was somewhat embarrassed by this and resolutely declared that Landau was wrong in so judging him. Such comparisons are not my main point... By the way, of all the physicists I have known personally, nobody resembled Landau more than Feynman. The resemblance extends to many things, scientific style, aspects of their personalities and behavior, and interest in pedagogical ideas. Even among famous physicists there is a diversity of talents. Niels Bohr and Landau, for instance, were on opposite extremes. Landau and Feynman I see as having had very similar talents. The similarity seems to me to be genetic. The differences, which one could attribute to their different surroundings and different upbringing, are certainly also very large. What a pity it is that these two remarkable physicists never met. It really pains me to think of this "product" of our past.”
Margarita Ryutova-Kemoklidze (Маргарита Рютова-Кемоклидзе). Quantum Generation: Highlights and Tragedies of the Golden Age of Physics [量子世代:物理学黄金时代的光耀与悲剧]. John Hine (英译者) 1 (电子版). 柏林 & 海德堡 & 纽约: Springer-Verlag. 1995. ISBN 978-3-642-49357-7. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-49357-7(英语).
伊萨克·M·哈拉尼科夫. Landau: The Physicist and the Man -- Recollections of L. D. Landau [朗道:物理学家兼普通人——关于朗道的回忆集]. J. B. Sykes (英译者) 1 (电子版). Pergamon Press. 1989. ISBN 9781483286884(英语).
Mikhail Shifman. Mikhail A. Shifman , 编. Under the Spell of Landau: When Theoretical Physics was Shaping Destinies [朗道魔咒:理论物理学命运的形成之时]. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 2013. ISBN 978-9814436564(英语).(注:书名中的“spell”一词兼有“咒语”和“一段岁月”之意。)
Alexei B. Kojevnikov. Stalin's Great Science: The Times and Adventures of Soviet Physicists [斯大林的伟大科学:苏联科学家的时代与冒险]. History of Modern Physical Sciences 1. London: Imperial College Press. 2004. ISBN 1-86094-419-1(英语).
Laurie M. Brown; Brian Pippard; Abraham Pais. Twentieth Century Physics [20世纪物理学]. UK: Institute of Physics Publishing. 1995. ISBN 9781563963148(英语).