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Hans Kramers
Hendrik Anthony "Hans" Kramers (2 February 1894 – 24
April 1952) was a Dutch physicist who worked with Niels Bohr to Hans Kramers
understand how electromagnetic waves interact with matter and
made important contributions to quantum mechanics and
statistical physics.

Contents
Background and education
Academic career
Family
Recognition
Notes
References
External links

Hans Kramers in c. 1928

Background and education Born Hendrik Anthony
Kramers
Hans Kramers was born in Rotterdam.[1] the son of Hendrik 2 February 1894
Kramers, a physician, and Jeanne Susanne Breukelman. Rotterdam,
Netherlands
In 1912 Hans finished secondary education (HBS) in Rotterdam,
and studied mathematics and physics at the University of Leiden, Died 24 April 1952
where he obtained a master's degree in 1916. Kramers wanted to (aged 58)
obtain foreign experience during his doctoral research, but his Oegstgeest,
first choice of supervisor, Max Born in Göttingen, was not Netherlands
reachable because of the first world war. Because Denmark was
Nationality Dutch
neutral in this war, as was the Netherlands, he travelled (by ship,
overland was impossible) to Copenhagen, where he visited Alma mater Leiden University
unannounced the then still relatively unknown Niels Bohr. Bohr Known for Kramers–Heisenberg
took him on as a Ph.D. candidate and Kramers prepared his formula
dissertation under Bohr's direction. Although Kramers did most
Wentzel–Kramers–
of his doctoral research (on intensities of atomic transitions) in
Copenhagen, he obtained his formal Ph.D. under Ehrenfest in Brillouin
Leiden, on 8 May 1919.[2] approximation
Kramers–Kronig
Kramers greatly enjoyed music and could play the cello and the relations
piano. Kramers–Wannier
duality
Academic career Kramers model for
polymer chains
After working for almost ten years in Bohr's group and becoming Kramers–Anderson
an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, Kramers superexchange
left Denmark in 1926 and returned to the Netherlands. He Kramers' degeneracy
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became a full professor in theoretical physics at Utrecht theorem

University, where he supervised Tjalling Koopmans. In 1934 he Kramers-Moyal
left Utrecht and succeeded Paul Ehrenfest in Leiden. From 1931 expansion
until his death he held also a cross appointment at Delft Kramers' law
University of Technology.
Kramers' opacity law
Kramers was one of the founders of the Mathematisch Centrum Awards Lorentz Medal (1947)
in Amsterdam. Hughes Medal (1951)

In 1925, with Werner Heisenberg he developed the Kramers– Scientific career

Heisenberg dispersion formula. He is also credited[3] with Fields Physics
introducing in 1948 [4] the concept of renormalization into Doctoral Niels Bohr
quantum field theory, although his approach was advisor Paul Ehrenfest
nonrelativistic.[3]. He is also credited for the Kramers–Kronig
relations with Ralph Kronig which are mathematical equations Doctoral Dirk ter Haar
relating real and imaginary parts of complex functions students Nico van Kampen
constrained by causality. One further refers to a Kramer's Tjalling Koopmans
turnover when the rate of thermally activated barrier crossing as
a function of the damping goes through a maximum, thereby undergoing a transition between the
energy diffusion and spatial diffusion regimes.

Family
On 25 October 1920 he was married to Anna Petersen. They had three daughters and one son.

Recognition
Kramers became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1929, he was
forced to resign in 1942. He joined the Academy again in 1945.[5] Kramers won the Lorentz Medal in
1947 and Hughes Medal in 1951.

Notes
1. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (https://www.
royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF). The Royal
Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
2. Hendrik Antonie Kramers (1919). "Intensiteit van spektraallijnen" (http://ilorentz.org/history/proefs
chriften/sources/Kramers_1919.pdf) (PDF).
3. Jagdish Mehra, Helmut Rechenberg, The Conceptual Completion and Extensions of Quantum
Mechanics 1932-1941. Epilogue: Aspects of the Further Development of Quantum Theory 1942-
1999: Volumes 6, Part 2, Springer, 2001, p. 1050.
4. Kramers presented his work at the Shelter Island Conference, repeated in 1948 at the Solvay
Conference. The latter did not appear in print until the Proceedings of the Solvay Conference,
published in 1950 (see Laurie M. Brown (ed.), Renormalization: From Lorentz to Landau (and
Beyond), Springer, 2012, p. 53).
5. "Hans A. Kramers (1894 - 1952)" (http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorD
etail&aId=PE00001384). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 28 July
2015.

References
Dresden, Max (1987). H.A. Kramers – Between Tradition and Revolution. Springer. ISBN 0-387-
96282-4.
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8/11/2020 Hans Kramers - Wikipedia

Belinfante, F. J.; ter Haar, D. (1952). "Hendrik Anthony Kramers: 1894–1952". Science. 116
(3021): 555–556. Bibcode:1952Sci...116..555B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1952Sci...116..
555B). doi:10.1126/science.116.3021.555 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.116.3021.555).

External links
H.B.G. Casimir, Kramers, Hendrik Anthony (1894–1952) (http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Project
en/BWN/lemmata/bwn1/kramers), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. (in Dutch)
J.M. Romein, Hendrik Anthony Kramers (http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_jaa003195201_01/_jaa00319
5201_01_0013.htm), in: Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde te Leiden,
1951–1953, pp. 83–91. (in Dutch)
Ph.D. candidates of H.A. Kramers: 1929-1952 (http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/IL-publications/dis
sertations/kramers.html)
Publications of H.A. Kramers (http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/IL-publications/Kramers.html)

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