Jeffrey Bub (born 1942) is a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and

philosopher of physics In philosophy, the philosophy of physics deals with conceptual and interpretational issues in physics, many of which overlap with research done by certain kinds of Theoretical physics, theoretical physicists. Historically, philosophers of physic ...

, 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 The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. He obtained his bachelor's degree in pure mathematics and physics from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. A scholarship allowed him to work at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

with

David Bohm David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant Theoretical physics, theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryDavid Peat Who's Afraid of Schrödinger' ...

who had profound intellectual influence on his work. Bub obtained his PhD in Mathematical Physics from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

in 1966. Before taking up his position as professor at the University of Maryland in 1986, he worked at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. He has been visiting professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, Yale University, the

University of California at Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 ...

, the CPNSS at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, the

University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

, the

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI, Perimeter, PITP) is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1999. The institute's founding and major benefactor i ...

, and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

.CV
at John Templeton Foundation (downloaded February 23, 2012) His main research interests relate to quantum foundations,

quantum information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...

quantum computation A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using specialized hardware. C ...

, and

quantum cryptography Quantum cryptography is the science of exploiting quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks. The best known example of quantum cryptography is quantum key distribution, which offers an information-theoretically secure soluti ...

. In 1998, his book ''Interpreting the Quantum World'' won the

Lakatos Award The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previou ...

. 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 John Stewart Bell (28 July 1928 – 1 October 1990) was a physicist from Northern Ireland and the originator of Bell's theorem, an important theorem in quantum mechanics, quantum physics regarding hidden-variable theory, hidden-variable theor ...

(and, thus,

Grete Hermann Grete Hermann (2 March 1901 – 15 April 1984) was a German mathematician and philosopher noted for her work in mathematics, physics, philosophy and education. She is noted for her early philosophical work on the foundations of quantum mechanics ...

) had misconstrued

John von Neumann John von Neumann ( ; ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, in ...

'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, *''Interpreting the Quantum World'', Cambridge University Press, 1997, (revised paperback edition, 1999) �
Review
by Kent A. Peacock *''The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science)'', Springer, 1974, *

References

External links

CV at John Templeton Foundation

an

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

Works

Further reading

References

External links