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Jeffrey Bub

Jeffrey Bub is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jeffrey Bub rather than just read about it. In short: Jeffrey Bub (born 1942) is a physicist and philosopher of physics, and Distinguished Professor in the department of philosophy, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Education He obtained his bachelor's degree in pure mathematics and physics from the University of Cape Town.

Key takeaways

  • Jeffrey Bub belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Jeffrey Bub to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Jeffrey Bub from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jeffrey Bub (born 1942) is a physicist and philosopher of physics, and Distinguished Professor in the department of philosophy, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Education He obtained his bachelor's degree in pure mathematics and physics from the University of Cape Town. A scholarship allowed him to work at Birkbeck College with David Bohm who had profound intellectual influence on his work. Bub obtained his PhD in Mathematical Physics from London University in 1966. Before taking up his position as professor at the University of Maryland in 1986, he worked at the University of Minnesota, Yale University, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Western Ontario. He has been visiting professor at Princeton University, Yale University, the University of California at Irvine, the CPNSS at the London School of Economics, the University of California at San Diego, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information at the University of Vienna. His main research interests relate to quantum foundations, quantum information, quantum computation, and quantum cryptography. In 1998, his book Interpreting the Quantum World won the Lakatos Award. In 2005 he received the University of Maryland's Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize for his work in the area of quantum foundations and quantum information. Bub has published over 100 scientific articles; the first of these are three articles authored together with David Bohm and published in 1966 and 1968. In 2010, he published an argument that the famous work of John Stewart Bell (and, thus, Grete Hermann) had misconstrued John von Neumann's no hidden variables proof of the impossibility of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. The validity of Bub's argument is, in turn, disputed.

Works Bananaworld: Quantum Mechanics for Primates, Oxford University Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-871853-6 Interpreting the Quantum World, Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-521-65386-2 (revised paperback edition, 1999) – Review by Kent A. Peacock The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science), Springer, 1974, ISBN 978-90-277-0465-8 Totally Random:Why Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics (A Serious Comic on Entanglement). Princeton University Press. 2018. ISBN 978-0-691-17695-6.

Further reading William Demopoulos and Itamar Pitowsky (eds.): Physical Theory and its Interpretation: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey Bub, Springer, 2006, ISBN 1-4020-4875-0

References

External links Jeffrey Bub, CV at John Templeton Foundation Jeffrey Bub, homepage Archived 2011-09-07 at the Wayback Machine and List of publications Jeffrey Bub, Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland Works by Jeffrey Bub, philpapers.org Jeffrey Bub, Rob Clifton: A uniqueness theorem for “No collapse” interpretations of quantum mechanics, Stud. Hist. Mod. Phys., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 181–219, 1996 Lectures by Jeffrey Bub, PIRSA, Perimeter Institute

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jeffrey Bub

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jeffrey Bub claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jeffrey Bub before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jeffrey Bub ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jeffrey Bub

In research
Jeffrey Bub appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Jeffrey Bub in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Jeffrey Bub is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 20th-century American philosophers, 21st-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Jeffrey Bub outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Jeffrey Bub in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Jeffrey Bub means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Jeffrey Bub out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jeffrey Bub in simple terms?

Jeffrey Bub (born 1942) is a physicist and philosopher of physics, and Distinguished Professor in the department of philosophy, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Education…

Why does Jeffrey Bub matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jeffrey Bub?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jeffrey Bub.

Tags

  • 1942 births
  • 20th-century American philosophers
  • 21st-century American physicists
  • Lakatos Award winners
  • Living people
  • Philosophers of science
  • University of Maryland, College Park faculty

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