physics

John J. Rehr

John J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr rather than just read about it. In short: John J. Rehr is an American theoretical physicist, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Key takeaways

John J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John J. Rehr from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John J. Rehr is an American theoretical physicist, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has worked in the field of theoreticalX-ray and electron-spectroscopies.

Biography Rehr received a B.S.E. in 1967 from the University of Michigan, followed by a Ph.D. from Cornell University, in 1972, in theoretical condensed matter physics with David Mermin as his advisory. He then held a NATO postdoctoral fellowship at King's College London and at University of California, San Diego, with Walter Kohn. In 1975, he was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Washington, rising to the rank of associate professor in 1980 and full professor in 1985. Rehr has held visiting appointments at Cornell University, Freie Universität Berlin, Lund University, Université de Poitiers and L'École Polytechnique (Paris). He has been a consulting professor at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, Co-ordinator of the DOE Computational Materials Science Network, and leader of the Theoretical X-ray Beamline of the European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility.

Work His works have received over 22,000 citations. His research specialties are in condensed matter theory, particularly in the field of excited state electronic structure and the theory of X-ray and electron spectra. One of Rehr's major accomplishment was the theoretical solution of the EXAFS problem, and quantitative theories of core-level x-ray and electron spectroscopies. Rehr is also the founding father of the first principles code FEFF8 and the principal investigator of the FEFF project. Rehr group's FEFF codes are in use worldwide and currently has over thousands of subscription. Rehr has also led his team in developing next generation scientific computation on High Performance Computing resources and cloud computing platforms such as the Amazon Web Services cloud . His research has largely been supported by the US Department of Energy BES.

Honors and awards Rehr received the Advanced Photon Source Arthur H. Compton Award in 2011 and the International XAFS Society's Achievement Award in 2006. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2001.

Most cited publications “Real space multiple scattering calculation and interpretation of X-ray absorption near edge structure,” by A. Ankudinov, B. Ravel, J.J. Rehr, and S. Conradson, Physical ReviewB 58 7565 (1998). 2369 citations “Multiple-Scattering Calculations of X-ray Absorption Spectra,” S. I. Zabinsky, J. J. Rehr, A. Ankudinov, R. C. Albers and M. J. Eller, Phys. Rev. B 52, 2995 (1995). 1725 citations “Theoretical X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Standards,” J.J. Rehr, J. Mustre de Leon, S.I. Zabinsky, and R.C. Albers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 113, 5135 (1991). 1443 citations “Theoretical Approaches to X-ray Absorption Fine Structure,” J. J. Rehr and R. C. Albers, Rev. Mod. Phys. 72, 621, (2000). 1051 citations “High-order multiple-scattering calculations of x-ray-absorption fine structure,” J.J. Rehr, R.C. Albers, and S.I. Zabinsky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 3397 (1992). 1032 citations

References

External links University of Washington Rehr homepage Archived 2004-01-29 at the Wayback Machine FEFF Project homepage

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John J. Rehr

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr

In research: John J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American physicists, American theoretical physicists, Cornell University alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John J. Rehr 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “John J. Rehr” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study John J. Rehr in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John J. Rehr in simple terms?

John J. Rehr is an American theoretical physicist, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Why does John J. Rehr 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 J. Rehr?

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 J. Rehr.