7x9 B&W glossy vintage photograph signed in black ink by Ilya M. Frank adding 8 VI 1981 with his signature. Minor wear, otherwise, excellent. (1908-1990) Ilya Mikhailovich Frank was a Soviet physicist who received the 1958 Nobel Prize for Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Igor Y. Tamm, also of the Soviet Union. He received the award for his work in explaining the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation. He received the Stalin Prize in 1946 and 1953 and the USSR State Prize in 1971.In 1934, Frank moved to the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (which shortly would be moved to Moscow, where it was transformed into the Institute of Physics). Here he started working on nuclear physics, a new field for him. He became interested in the effect discovered by Pavel Cherenkov, that charged particles moving through water at high speeds emit light. Together with Igor Tamm, he developed a theoretical explanation: the effect occurs when charged particles travel through an optically transparent medium at speeds greater than the speed of light in that medium, causing a shock wave in the electromagnetic field. The amount of energy radiated in this process is given by the Frank–Tamm formula.The discovery and explanation of the effect resulted in the development of new methods for detecting and measuring the velocity of high-speed nuclear particles and became of great importance for research in nuclear physics. Cherenkov radiation is also widely used in biomedical research for the detection of radioactive isotopes. In 1946, Cherenkov, Vavilov, Tamm, and Frank were awarded a Stalin Prize for their discovery, and in 1958 Cherenkov, Tamm, and Frank received the Nobel Prize in physics.In 1944, Frank was appointed professor and became head of a department at the Institute of Physics and of the Nuclear Physics Laboratory (which was later transferred to the Institute of Nuclear Research). Frank's laboratory was involved in the (then secret) study of nuclear reactors. In particular, they studied the diffusion and thermalization of neutrons.In 1957, Frank also became director of the Laboratory of Neutron Physics at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The laboratory was based on the neutron fast-pulse reactor (IBR) then under construction at the site. Under Frank's supervision, the reactor was used in the development of neutron spectroscopy techniques.This lot came from the Jim Wiggins collection we purchased in July 2022. Jim Wiggins accumulated the most unique and valuable autograph collection over a period of 70-plus years. He obtained his collection either in person or by writing to persons of fame and notoriety. Comes with a full Letter of Authenticity from Todd Mueller Authentics.