Theoretical physicist. Associate professor at the University of Amsterdam and NBI. Coordinator of @EmergenceDIEP and founder of @SciCocktailsCPH
Joined February 2021
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Early in the year, together with my collaborator Emil Have and PhD student Gian Nicosia, we formulated a duality between the dynamics of radiation (moving at the speed of light) and deformations of certain spacetimes: arxiv.org/abs/2602.20268
Proud to have initiated this art+science fellowship call based on the consortium Emergence at All Scales that I am leading. I look forward to see what the outcome of these fellowships will be! More here: d-iep.org/artsciencefellowsh…
Earlier this year we've figured out how to match microscopic and macroscopic calculations of spin fluids. I think it's the most refreshing work on spin hydrodynamics since its inception, likely to push forward simulations for heavy-ion collisions: arxiv.org/abs/2601.14421
Jácome (Jay) Armas retweeted
Fresh press coverage at DIEP 🔍
Jay Armas (@jay_jacome) was interviewed by Portuguese newspaper @Publico about the Emergence At All Scales (EAAS) consortium that he leads which recently received a NWO grant!
More about EAAS: d-iep.org/eaas
Link to the interview👇
O consórcio que Jácome Armas lidera ganhou sete milhões de euros para estudar as origens, incluindo a do Universo. Este dinheiro permitiu criar um centro de investigação virtual – agora inaugurado. publico.pt/2025/11/30/cienci…
In Amsterdam we are looking for a postdoc who would like to work on relativistic hydrodynamics:
d-iep.org/spinhydroposition
An article (in Dutch) some days ago about my book:
quantumuniverse.nl/quantumzw…
Last Monday it was the exciting kick off meeting of the new centre on Emergence at all Scales @EmergenceDIEP that I am leading! The kick off ended with a @SciCocktailsCPH event with Neil Turok.
I have been puzzled for a while about what happens when matter starts flowing close to the speed of light. With excellent collaborators we kind of figured this out here and began developing an effective theory for null matter: arxiv.org/abs/2509.25320
Fresh on the arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2506.20602. We used our novel theory of collective phenomena for living systems to understand the temperature profile of an active nematic material which exhibits special features due the underlying agents having their own internal fuel sources.
Here is the recording of my talk a week ago in New York: scgp.stonybrook.edu/video_po…
Two weeks ago I gave a talk on driven open systems at the Simons Center in Stony Brook in New York. Pretty cool.
scgp.stonybrook.edu/archives…
Some weeks ago I gave a talk about my book Conversations on Quantum Gravity during the History and Philosophy of Physics meeting in the Netherlands. Really fun to speak with historians and philosophers of physics! Very interesting to hear about the notion of effective realism.
This week appeared on arXiv the work I did with my PhD student on trying to understand theories of spin hydrodynamics from holography. We ended up realising that the chiral anomaly in field theory in 4d can be understood as a gravitational anomaly in 10d: arxiv.org/abs/2505.01843
Together with physicists and social psychologists we modeled involvement in opinion dynamics. The result is counter-intuitive but seems to fit the world: if you increase the connectivity between people you increase the divide between them!
arxiv.org/abs/2503.24098
In a few hours I'll be introducing the project Emergence At All Scales at the InScience Festival in Nijmegen:
insciencefestival.nl/en/invi…
Tonight at Science and Cocktails: an original music/video performance and a video installation that I help create with the music collective Den Sorte Skole and visual artist Signe Emma and inspired on string theory! Hopefully it will tour around one day.
Next week I am organising a Science and Cocktails event and a Niels Bohr Lecture with Cumrun Vafa on string theory and puzzles about our universe! Looking forward!
scienceandcocktails.org/en/e…
nbi.ku.dk/moed-os/niels_bohr…
Last week, I gave the Institute Lorentz seminar in Leiden on a new approach to hydrodynamics of active matter that turns parts Schrodinger's book "What is Life?" into equations.
Finally published in Journal of Physics: Complexity. Trying to figure out what is the utility function underlying cooperative dynamics in living and social systems: iopscience.iop.org/article/1…
