Soviet Union’s theoretical Physicist **Lev Landau** is well-known for his graduate textbook volumes in theoretical physics. He is known to be the Soviet version of Jon Von Newmann, due to his extraordinary abilities and contributions to all areas of physics. (He received a Ph.D. from Neils Bohr, who was considered as god amongst physicsts)

Lev Davidovich Landau (1908~1968)

As all ‘great’ theoretical physicists at the time wanted to work with Landau, he managed to create a notoriously difficult exam called Landau Theoretical Minimum. It consisted of extremely challenging questions from all areas of physics, which Landau himself considered as the ‘minimum level of knowledge’ to become a great physicist.

Believe it or not, the only 43 physicists who passed his theoretical minimum became one of the greatest names of the time. This includes his Ph.D. student Evegeny Lifschitz.

A known problem is shown below:

Landau’s exam was extremely complicated as it had assymetries, approximations, and intricate scenarios. The answers are not officially published and **some questions are still under debate ,** showing how notoriously difficult the exams were.