Academician David Sedrakyan Has Died: Funeral Service to Be Held Tomorrow at St. John’s Church

The funeral service for Academician David Sedrakyan will take place on December 3, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at St. John’s Church (Kond). The farewell ceremony is scheduled for December 4 at 12:00 PM at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (address: Marshal Baghramyan Ave., 24). This was announced by the public relations and information department of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.

On December 1, Academician David Sedrakyan, aged 81, passed away. His contributions to science, especially in the field of theoretical astrophysics, are significant. The solution derived within the framework of general relativity has had great scientific value, proposing a new method for calculating the parameters of rotating configurations. It confirmed the scientific hypothesis put forth by the English scientist E. Hewish that pulsars are rotating neutron stars.

By examining the interaction of neutron and proton superfluid condensates, David Sedrakyan discovered a new physical phenomenon known today as the "strain effect." Another area of Sedrakyan's work deals with the observed slowdown of the pulsar's rotation, which is accompanied by a 'jump' in angular velocity. Based on his hypothesis that the discovered network of neutron filaments gradually thins as the star's rotation slows, Sedrakyan, along with his students, proposed three mechanisms for the braking of pulsar rotation and additionally discovered that the increase in surface temperature during the slowdown causes the star to become a source of X-ray emission. The resulting regularities are in line with observational laws regarding the X-ray radiation coming from space.

Since 1994, alongside theoretical studies of neutron stars, Sedrakyan and his colleagues have conducted scientific investigations into the transit and reflection coefficients of potential barriers for electrons, as well as the problems of possible localization of electrons.

David Sedrakyan's educational-mentoring activities have also been fruitful; under his supervision, 4 doctoral and 10 candidate theses have been defended. His nearly 300 scientific articles have brought Sedrakyan wide international recognition in his field of research. He has been one of the active organizers of numerous international conferences and thematic seminars, and for many years he served as the deputy chief editor of the "Reports of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR" magazine, and later, the chief editor of the "Astrophysics" journal of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Along with D. Blashke, he co-authored and published the international journal "Superdense QCD Matter and Compact Stars" and was a co-editor of the book "Ambartsumian's Legacy and Active Universe," dedicated to V. Ambartsumian.

For his work on "Stationary Axially Symmetric Fields in Einstein’s Theory" in 1970, David Sedrakyan received the State Prize of the HSSR, and in 1999, he was awarded the Anania Shiraz medal.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Armenia, the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and the scientific community mourn the passing of the renowned scientist and express their condolences to Academician David Sedrakyan’s family and colleagues.