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John G. Cramer

John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer rather than just read about it. In short: John Gleason Cramer Jr. (born October 24, 1934) is a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, known for his development of the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics.

John G. Cramer — main illustration
John G. Cramer — illustration

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Gleason Cramer Jr. (born October 24, 1934) is a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, known for his development of the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics. He has been an active participant with the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Early years John Cramer was born in Houston, Texas. He attended Mirabeau B Lamar High School in Houston, and graduated with a BA in physics from Rice University in 1957. He continued his studies, graduating with an MA in physics from Rice University in 1959 and a Ph.D. in physics from Rice University in 1961.

Career After serving as a post-doctoral fellow at Indiana University from 1961 to 1963, Cramer continued as an assistant professor at the same university from 1963 to 1964. He was an assistant professor at the University of Washington from 1964 to 1968, an associate professor from 1968 to 1974, and was appointed as a full professor in 1974. From 2007 to 2014, Cramer investigated the possibility that quantum nonlocality might be used for communication between observers through the use of switchable interference patterns. In the course of this work, he gained new understanding of the "show stopper" within the quantum formalism that prevents such nonlocal signaling: For each interference pattern, nature also provides and superimposes an "anti-interference pattern". These are always combined in a way that "erases" potential nonlocal signals. The two interference patterns complement each other, resulting in no perceptible interference pattern. Measurement changes can dramatically modify the individual interference patterns, but always so that this erasure occurs. In this way, nature is protected from the possibility of retrocausal signaling and its consequences and paradoxes. Cramer has been making regular appearances on the Science Channel and on NPR Science Friday.

Writing In addition to his approximately 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, John Cramer writes a regular column, "The Alternate View", appearing in every second issue, for Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine. In July 1986, he published the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics which is inspired by the Wheeler–Feynman time-symmetric theory. His book on quantum mechanics, The Quantum Handshake: Entanglement, Nonlocality and Transactions (2015), published by Springer Verlag, is a comprehensive introduction to the transactional interpretation. Cramer's simulation of the sound of the Big Bang attracted some mainstream press attention in late 2003 and again in 2013. The simulation originated with an "Alternate View" article, "BOOMERanG and the Sound of the Big Bang" (January 2001). Cramer describes the sound as "rather like a large jet plane 100 feet off the ground flying over your house in the middle of the night." Cramer has published three novels, Twistor (1989), Einstein's Bridge (1997) and Fermi's Question (2023), all within the hard science fiction genre. Cramer was the 2010 Science Guest of Honor at Norwescon, a large science fiction and fantasy convention in the Seattle area due to his physics fact columns in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Bibliography

Non-fiction The quantum handshake: entanglement, nonlocality and transactions. New York: Springer. 2015.

Novels Cramer, John (1989). Twistor. New York: Morrow. — (2016) [1989]. Twistor. Introduction by Gene Wolfe (Dover paperback ed.). Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. — (1997). Einstein's bridge. New York: Avon Books. — (2023). Fermi's question (E-book). New York: Baen Books.

Awards and recognition Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1991); Nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (1991); Listed in Who's Who in America (from 43rd Edition, 1984); Elected Fellow, American Physical Society (1974); National Science Foundation Fellow at Rice University (1959–61); Sigma-Xi Thesis Award at Rice University (1959); Bausch-Lomb Science Award at Lamar High School Graduation (1953);

Personal life Cramer married Pauline Ruth Bond in June, 1961. The couple have three children: Kathryn Cramer (born April, 1962), John G. Cramer III (born January 1964), and Karen Cramer (born April 1967).

References

Profile in Marquis Who's Who on the Web.

External links John G. Cramer's Home Page – Includes a photograph of the author, contact information, and more A Puzzling Signal in RHIC Experiments, Physics News Update Number 723 #2, March 15, 2005, by Phil Schewe & Ben Stein. John G. Cramer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Scientific publications of John G. Cramer on INSPIRE-HEP John G. Cramer, professor emeritus of Physics at the University of Washington, presents "The Quantum Handshake Explored." YouTube video dated 1 Feb 2018.

Illustrations

John G. Cramer illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John G. Cramer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer

In research
John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer 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
John G. Cramer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1934 births, 20th-century American male novelists, 20th-century American novelists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John G. Cramer in simple terms?

John Gleason Cramer Jr. (born October 24, 1934) is a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, known for his development of the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Why does John G. Cramer 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 John G. Cramer?

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 John G. Cramer.

Tags

  • 1934 births
  • 20th-century American male novelists
  • 20th-century American novelists
  • 20th-century American physicists
  • 20th-century American science writers
  • 21st-century American male writers
  • 21st-century American novelists
  • 21st-century American physicists
  • Academics from Houston
  • American experimental physicists
  • American male non-fiction writers
  • American nuclear physicists

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