Physicists’ red-letter day is white and blue too

After learning he had won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday, Alexei Abrikosov put on a red-white-and-blue tie with a stars-and- stripes pattern.

The Russian-born scientist said he wanted to make a statement: “I’m an American citizen and an American physicist.”

Before he came to Argonne National Laboratory in 1991, Abrikosov had been one of the top scientists in the Soviet Union. He decided to leave after detecting signals that funding would dry up for the kind of basic research he was doing. “The best place seemed to be the United States,” he said.

He put out feelers and heard Argonne was interested. He visited for a week “and I liked very much what I saw.”

It was impossible to save money in the Soviet Union. When Abrikosov arrived in the United States, he was nearing retirement age but penniless. He said his share of the $1.3 million prize will provide for his retirement.

Fellow physics prize winner Anthony Leggett also emigrated to the United States. Leggett was born in London and earned a doctorate in physics from Oxford University. He decided to leave in 1983 after the government cut science funding. The U. of I. “made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he said. Leggett said he’ll think about what he will do with his prize money once the IRS takes its cut.