physics

Michael F. Crommie

Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie rather than just read about it. In short: Michael F. Crommie (born December 1961) is an American physicist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael F. Crommie (born December 1961) is an American physicist. He is a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Renowned for his research on condensed-matter physics, he is a recipient of both the Newcomb-Cleveland Prize and the Davisson–Germer Prize in Atomic Physics. Crommie currently directs the Crommie Research Group.

Education Crommie completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a bachelor's degree in physics in 1984. He completed his doctoral studies under Alex Zettl at UC Berkeley, receiving a Ph.D. in physics in 1991, and was a postdoctoral fellow at IBM under Don Eigler. In 2007, he was elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Research Crommie's research group currently uses scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Crommie is known for demonstrating the quantum corral in 1993 with Christopher Lutz and Don Eigler by using an elliptical ring of cobalt atoms on a copper surface. The ferromagnetic cobalt atoms reflected the surface electrons of the copper inside the ring into a wave pattern, as predicted by the theory of quantum mechanics.

See also Wolf-Dieter Schneider Roberto Car Eberhard Umbach Andreas J. Heinrich Ulrike Diebold

References

External links The Crommie Research Group at UC Berkeley

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael F. Crommie

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie

In research: Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie 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: Michael F. Crommie is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1961 births, 21st-century American physicists, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael F. Crommie in simple terms?

Michael F. Crommie (born December 1961) is an American physicist.

Why does Michael F. Crommie 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 Michael F. Crommie?

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 Michael F. Crommie.