Ours is an epoch of global demographic revolution, a time of a rapid transition from explosive population growth to a low reproduction level. This, possibly the most momentous change ever witnessed by humankind has, first and foremost, important implications for the dynamics of population. But it also affects billions of people in all aspects of their lives, and it is for this reason that demographic processes have grown into a vast problem, both globally and in Russia. Their fundamental understanding will to a large extent impact the present, the short-term future following the current critical epoch, the stable and uniform global development and its priorities, and indeed global security. Quantitative treatment of historical processes is reached using the phenomenological theory of mankind’s population growth. This theory relies on the concepts and methods of physics and its conclusions should take into account the ideas of economics and genetics.

PACS: 01.75.+m, 89.65.Cd (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.0180.201012g.1337 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2010/12/f/ 000288495700006 2-s2.0-79955626810 Citation: Kapitza S P "On the theory of global population growth" Phys. Usp. 53 1287–1296 (2010) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Капица С П «К теории роста населения Земли» УФН 180 1337–1346 (2010); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0180.201012g.1337