Ludvík Smrčka obituary

We have very sad news that our friend, advisor, and distinguished colleague Ludvík Smrčka passed away yesterday. Ludvík made an exceptional mark in the theory of quantum Hall effect and transport in condensed matter. As the head of our Department 15 he initiated the key extension of the molecular-beam-epitaxy laboratory and the construction of the clean room facility with electron-beam lithography. The past fifteen years of research of spintronics in the department would have been unthinkable without these two core laboratories. Ludvik’s favorite motto was that condensed matter physics was an experimental research field and we, his theoretical students, have this imprinted in our scientific DNA. The daily seamless interactions between experimentalists and theorists is our department’s heritage we owe to Ludvik.

I saw Ludvík yesterday in the afternoon on Cukrovarnická tennis court. He was playing doubles with his peers like I used to see him regularly since 1992 when I started my PhD in his group. He placed a slice serve right in the corner of the box and I thought to myself that this was a beginning of another nice season for him….

Tomas Jungwirth, 23 April 2020